Tori's Vacay
by pbow
Summary: Tori Vega receives an invitation for a little vacation in the country after her singing career takes off, but she has absolutely no idea what's in store for her and a few friends.
1. The Invitation

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the characters from the television show **Victorious**. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my slightly unbalanced mind. I also don't own any of the businesses or music used in this tale. (Tho I did _slightly_ alter the lyrics of one of Tori Vega's songs as you'll see in chapter 14.)

There are 19 total chapters so sit back and enjoy the ride.

Premise: Tori Vega and a few other friends get invited out to a small town in southwestern Colorado for a little rest and relaxation one year after finishing high school and starting their careers. The only problem is they don't know who sent the offer or what's in store for them if they do accept the invitation.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 1

The Invitation

Xxxxxx

Victoria 'Tori' Vega was very interested in the e-mail she'd received but she knew the prudent thing to do would be to delete right off the bat. It sounded kinda... spam-ish.

But it also sounded _extremely_ intriguing.

Tori had graduated from high school a little less than one year ago and her singing career was well on it's way, having just finished her first U.S./Canada tour after her surprisingly successful opening number at the Platinum Music Awards the previous year.

Mason Thornesmith, the owner of Neutronium Records and Executive Producer of the PMAs, absolutely loved the rousing reception Tori had received at the music awards show and immediately signed the virtually unknown Hollywood Arts High School senior to a five year deal. But he also decided to abandon the 'hoopla' he'd tried to create with the young girl wearing bizarre outfits and acting like the proverbial 'Bad Girl/Spoiled Diva'. Thornesmith had decided to play her career straight because of the huge success of the awards show and immediately had her in the recording studio as much as possible outside of school to get her first album out as quickly as possible. (Re-recording most of the songs she and André Harris had written over the years in high school for the inaugural album.)

And it'd all paid off.

In spades!

Tori's first album had gone double platinum in less than a month from its debut and was still selling _extremely_ well, and tickets for her concerts were also in high demand to the point that they sold out in less than a half hour after going on sale.

But the young pop star now had a little over a month free to rest and relax or do whatever she wanted before she needed to start working on her second album with André Harris and then head off on a world tour. (Her high school friend had decided to strictly work on writing music independently and not perform at all. That way André could assist all of his friends with their musical careers and still get paid handsomely.)

So Tori thought she could use a little vacation away from the glitz and glamor of the music industry. (Not to mention the often boring fifteen to eighteen hour [or longer] rides on a tour bus to the next venue where she would perform; That's if she wasn't jetting off to the next city. Those long, boring bus rides always brought to mind the old Bob Seger tune, **Turn The Page**. "_You've been riding sixteen_ _hours and there's nothing much to do. You don't feel like writing you just wish the trip was through."_)

She'd been planning to get together with André soon to start on a few new songs for the next album but he was busy with his girlfriend, Hope Quincy. The blow to the head from a falling sign during an earthquake at her sushi birthday party caused a major shift in Hope's personality and she was now a sweet, loving, devoted girlfriend to André, not the spoiled rich brat she'd been when Tori had first met her. Hope and André were even starting to talk about getting married, so Tori really didn't want to disturb them until it was necessary.

Her other friends were doing well, too. Cat Valentine occasionally freelanced as either a makeup artist or costume designer on movies or TV shows when she wasn't out on her own singing tour. Jade West had jumped into a successful movie career in Hollywood right after graduation and Beck Oliver was up in Vancouver Canada taping the second season of an extremely successful TV show.

Robbie Shapiro was the only one of Tori's close high school friends who wasn't faring so well. He'd gotten into a major argument with Rex, his ventriloquist puppet/alter ego, in a fancy restaurant after the puppet had made a lewd pass at one of the waitresses and was now being psychoanalyzed and treated at a hospital for the insane. (Robbie persisted in insisting that Rex was real and his alter ego was giving him nightmares once again.)

So the e-mail with an invitation to stay at a small horse ranch out in the middle of 'Nowhere Colorado', in the western foothills of the Rocky Mountains, sounded very appealing; You know, being out in the great outdoors and getting away from it all, maybe learning how to ride a horse for the first time. Tori knew she had the free time and the opportunity sounded too good to be true. Plus, she'd never really been out of the big city and spent any length of time in the country, so this sounded like the perfect opportunity.

The downside of the invitation was that she didn't know the person who had invited her. She was asked to come alone, no bodyguards or handlers or other types of hangers-on, and that certain concessions were to be met. What those concessions were, the e-mail didn't say. It only said to respond if she were interested and all pertinent information would be relayed in the next e-mail or video chat.

Tori was up in the air about whether to respond or not. The guy (and it _was_ a man who'd sent the e-mail; He'd sent along a few pics of himself) was quite handsome, appearing to be only a few years older than her nineteen year old self, so she wasn't too concerned about him being some kind of middle-aged stalking perv or obsessed fan. (Although those possibilities were still conceivable.) He'd also sent along a few photos of the ranch. It appeared to be nestled in a beautiful canyon set far away from civilization, but the house seemed to be something akin to any of the nicer Hollywood Hills two story homes she'd seen in passing, complete with a gorgeous pool and fabulous kitchen. From this scant information Tori got the distinct impression that he was a gentleman who just wanted to give her an opportunity to relax for a bit after the grueling tour she'd just finished and see the countryside like he'd mentioned in the e-mail.

Tori checked her day planner for the third time since receiving the e-mail to make sure she didn't have any prior commitments for the upcoming weeks before she zipped off a reply stating she _was_ interested but wouldn't commit until she got a _lot_ more information.

Not one minute after she sent the e-mail, she received a request for a live video chat from the guy.

Curious, Tori accepted the chat and came face-to-face (virtually speaking, that is) with the handsome person in question. He flashed a winning smile and said, "Good Morning Miss Vega. Thank you for answering my message so promptly."

"Promptly?" Tori curiously laughed. "I spent, like, an hour thinking about whether I should respond or not. I wouldn't call that prompt, Mister, um... You only signed the first message with your initials: P.B.."

"Oh, please excuse my manners. That's a habit I got into when corresponding with some of my friends. My name is Paul Bowman and I'd suppose you'd like to know a little more about me."

"That _would_ help a lot," Tori anxiously chuckled, though trying not to appear too nervous.

"Well, let's see," Paul said, rubbing his hairy chin in thought. "I'm twenty-three years old and have been called a perfect gentleman by a few people. I'm a few inches over six feet tall and a solid two hundred ten pounds. As you can see, I have red hair, mustache and goatee... and brown eyes. As for my profession; I'm a semiretired multi-millionaire who used to work in your industry before my inheritance and some of the investments I've made kicked in. I own the ranch outright, just over one hundred-twenty acres, and I also own a beach front house south of Tampa Bay, Florida. Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

"Um," Tori paused. That was a lot of information he'd just given her and not much time to process it. The guy seemed to be honest but there were a couple major things she wanted to know so she asked, "Why me? I mean why the invitation?"

"Ah," Paul chuckled, "right to the point. To be honest, I know what it's like for a young lady like yourself to work in the television, film and music industry; The personal toll you have to pay to become and stay a star. I just thought it'd be nice to offer the new young stars of today a respite from the industry and, maybe, show them what a normal lifestyle can be like. That's not to say my lifestyle is normal, as you'll discover when I tell you about one of my little... _house rules_ I insist upon."

"Yeah, about those rules," Tori warily begged. "What exactly are they?" That was the other major sticking point she needed to find out before making any kind of a decision.

"Well for one thing, you're to leave all technology behind in L.A.," Paul swiftly relayed. "I think young folk nowadays are too dependent on their cellphones and computers, like they need to be in constant touch with their friends and parents or else the world will end. Most kids feel the need to update their blogs two, three, four times or more each day. Do _you_ think that's really necessary?"

"Now I don't," Tori laughed, thinking back to an incident at school a few years ago. "Not after Sikowitz, one of my teachers at Hollywood Arts, made us go for a week without them. But my manager thinks it's necessary to keep the fans entertained and interested in my career. He wants to keep me in the public's eye, so to speak."

"That's understandable," Paul nodded in agreement, "but I don't think it's entirely necessary. I know young people have a shorter attention span nowadays but I don't think it's short enough to forget you in a week or two. I'll tell you what. Just to ease your mind a bit you can bring along your cellphone so you can tweet once or twice a day. We don't get very good reception here in the canyon but you might feel more at ease if you had it with you all the time." He smirked, which looked absolutely adorable to the new pop star, and joked, "I'll even call the police myself if you think I'm coming on to you and you feel threatened."

"Okay," Tori laughed, more at ease after his hopefully supposed jest. "Um... So what other rules are there?"

"Well," the guy let out a huge, resigned breath like he was getting ready to drop a bombshell or something. "I guess there isn't a tactful way to say this, but here it goes. As I said earlier, my lifestyle isn't normal so I've designated the entire ranch as a clothing free zone."

"A clothing... free..." Tori had to really think about that for a few seconds before she realized what he was talking about. She suddenly noticed that Paul wasn't wearing a shirt while they'd been chatting, only seeing his head, shoulders and upper part of his torso in the picture, and wondered if he wasn't wearing any pants or underwear, either. "Whoa! You walk around totally _naked?!"_ The deep tan he was sporting suggested he probably did. (At least shirt-wise.)

Paul had the common courtesy to blush a bit as he replied, "Yes, I'm a practicing Nudist. I've found the lifestyle to be quite natural... No pun intended."

"I... I really don't know what to say about that."

"What is there to say," Paul nonchalantly shrugged, coming out of the slight embarrassment from his confession to her about his lifestyle. "It's just the way I live. There have been quite a few medical studies that show the Sun is an excellent source of vitamin C and D, things your body needs, so it's a healthier way to live. Plus I like the feel of a gentle breeze flowing around my entire body. It's quite invigorating."

"I never thought about it that way," Tori almost mumbled, thinking about a former middle school friend whose parents enjoyed a similar outlook. They would occasionally head to a secluded beach that was clothing optional, but they spent the rest of the time properly clothed and generally kept their visits a secret from their friends. Her schoolmate rarely join her parents in their outings but she'd never said anything against it either. Tori mentally shook her head to focus on the person she was talking to and said, "Well, um, it's something to think about."

"You can take all the time you need to think it over," Paul said, pleased that she hadn't outright dismissed his proposal. To assuage any of her qualms, he mentioned, "I've also sent an invitation to two of your friends from school, and also to two of the three teens in Seattle that I believe you know from the internet. If you'd like, why not discuss it with them?"

"Wait-what?" Tori gasped. "Who else did you invite?"

"I've sent the same invitation to Miss Jadelyn West, Miss Catarina Valentine, Miss Carlotta Shay and Miss Samantha Puckett. You may have seen the last two ladies on the web show _iCarly _and I believe you've met them too, at one time. You're the first I've received a response from."

"Ummm, yeah. Okay," Tori absently replied, really being thrown for a loop. While she was now good friends with two of the four teens mentioned, (the high school rivalry between her and Jade had ended right after graduation and they both headed out on their singing and acting careers, respectively,) she wasn't sure if she was ready to get naked with any of them. Of course she'd had gym class with Cat and Jade but they usually avoided each other in the showers and locker room. Tori had met Carly Shay and Sam Puckett once at a party at Kenan Thompson's house and they'd gotten along fairly well after humiliating and dumping her then boyfriend, Steven Carson, live on the iCarly web show.

"Um, can I get back to you after I talk to them?" Tori asked, then winced when she suddenly remembered he'd suggested just that very thing.

A pleasant smile arose as Paul Bowman replied, "As I said before, take all the time you need. It's an open invitation that you can take up whenever you feel the need to get away from the music industry."

"Thanks," Tori laughed in relief, now knowing she wasn't the only one in this situation. "I'll get back to you in a day or two."

"I look forward to hearing from you, Miss Vega."

Tori immediately shut down the web chat, picked up her cellphone and speed-dialed a number. While she was a little uneasy and unsure about the nudity part of the proposal, she was still intrigued with the whole getting-away-from-it-all deal. For some unfathomable reason, she'd taken an immediate liking to the affable Paul Bowman and wanted to meet him in person, and the thought of getting out in the great outdoors was also extremely appealing.

She was brought out of her musing when she heard a very cheerful, high-pitched squeal, "Hey Tori. What's up?" over the phone.

"Hey Cat," Tori answered with a broad smile. It was always great to talk to her redheaded friend. To all who knew her, Catarina 'Cat' Valentine appear to be a ditzy, naive, child-like girl. But she was also quick-witted and seemed to have a uncanny sense about judging someone's personality, and had been a very good friend all throughout her stint at Hollywood Arts. (Even with the brief falling out they'd had over a former boyfriend of hers, Danny.) "I was just wondering if you got an invitation from someone in Colorado to go out for a small vacation and enjoy the scenery."

"Oh yeah," Cat answered as if she suddenly remembered it, also taken slightly aback by the out-of-left-field question. "I got it but I didn't know what to think about it. So you got the invite too?"

"Yes I did," Tori said, matter-of-factly. "_And_ I just web-chatted with the guy. He seems pleasant enough but there were a few caveats to the invitation."

"Caveats? Like in caveat emptor: Let the buyer beware?"

"Yeah," Tori jovially laughed, glad that Cat was smart enough to get her meaning. "It seems he's a practicing Nudist and he's designated the ranch as a clothing free zone."

"Oh wow," Cat marveled and perked up at that information. "I've always wanted to visit a nudist camp. I found out there's one up in Topanga Canyon but my manager doesn't want me to go there 'cause it might tarnish my image." Because of Tori's contract with Mason Thornesmith after the Platinum Music Awards show and with a few other gigs where Cat had sang backup for her, the redhead had also been given a shot at musical stardom and was due to go back out on tour in four or five weeks after just finishing a few shows in the Midwest.

"You _want_ to go there and be naked with a strange man?" Tori begged in shock. This was obviously something they had never talked about before and she was stunned that the sweet, innocent girl would be willing to try it.

"Well, yeah," Cat simply stated with an unseen (over the phone) nonchalant shrug as if it were a given. "I'm a bit of a closet nudist myself but it's not something I've told anyone about; Not even my family. It just seems like something I'd like to try."

"Yes, it does sound intriguing," Tori murmured to herself, but loud enough for Cat to hear over the cellphone. She thought back to all of the different outfits Cat had worn throughout high school and could understand how the petite redhead might like to shed the very short denim shorts and strappy tops she normally wore. (Not to mention the short dresses with plenty of leg, shoulder and cleavage showing.) Plus, Cat always seemed to have a perpetual tan going on no matter what time of year it was.

"So, are you interested in accepting the invite?"

"I'm thinking... yes," Tori verbally decided after mulling it over for a second or two.

"I'd like to go, too," Cat enthused. "Tell me all about the guy."

Xxxxxx

After making the phone call a conference call with Jade West and telling her other girl friend all about the conversation she'd had with Paul Bowman, it was decided that they'd all like to accept the invitation. The only problem was that Jade had just started shooting a movie, her first starring role after two minor roles in two other films, so she couldn't go at that time.

The girls discussed going later in the year when the three of them could all attend together but they couldn't find even a week that they all had off at the same time. Only Tori and Cat weren't busy during the coming weeks so they decided to attend together.

Jade said her good-byes since she was needed back on the set in a few minutes, and Tori sent an e-mail to Paul stating that she and Cat would like to fly out. She also zipped off an e-mail to Carly Shay to see if she and her blonde co-host would be interested in meeting up at the ranch. As the sayings go, 'the more the merrier' and 'there's strength in numbers'. If it was a hoax or come-on then the four of them could gang up on Mr. Bowman. If not, then she and Cat could get better acquainted with the two web-celebs and have a good time.

Xxxxxx

The next morning, Tori Vega was awoken by her cellphone ringing. She groggily answered and was shocked to semi consciousness by a high-pitched squeal of delight, "Tori! He contacted me and arranged tickets and everything!"

"Cat?" Tori recognized the voice but she was still a little too out of it to make any sense of what her friend was telling her. "What are you talking about. What time is it anyway?"

"It's eight-thirty. Oh! Did I wake you?"

"Um, yeah." Tori glanced over to try and focus on her alarm clock. It _was_ only eight-thirty in the morning. When she'd been out on tour she'd gotten into the habit of going to bed late and sleeping in since her shows started around eight o'clock at night and there usually was a little get-together with some of the fans afterward. (And then it'd be a couple of hours to come down from the adrenaline rush from the concert and meeting her public before she could fall asleep.) Now Tori preferred sleeping in just so she wouldn't have to change her sleep pattern for when she went back out on tour. She knew Cat was a morning person so the redhead had probably already been up for at least an hour or two. Tori scratched the back of her head and yawned. She was finally awake enough to ask, "Now, who called and what kinda tickets are you talking about?"

"I've been web chatting with Paul Bowman," Cat slowly stated, finally remembering that her half Latina friend wasn't a morning person and had just woke up. "He agreed for us to visit over the next two weeks, at least. We have plane tickets waiting for us at the airport for a ten-thirty flight so you need to get out of bed, like _now."_

"Two hours!?" That bit if information fully woke Tori up. She quickly sat up in bed like a prairie dog popping up out of its hole at the news. "That's not enough time to pack and get to the airport!"

"Paul said to pack light," Cat giggled her patented little giggle that Tori had heard a million time over the years. "We only need to bring along a few different outfits in case we go into town, but definitely something sturdy to wear on our feet. He mentioned that there are a few hiking trails in the area and we'll need them when we ride the horses. Oh, and you'll need a pair of sandals or flip flops for the pool area."

"I guess we won't need much to wear if the place is a clothing free zone," Tori genially laughed as she got out of bed and started rummaging around in her closet for something to wear on the plane. "Ummm, how am I supposed to get to the airport?" She was still a little out of it but managed to strip out of her night wear and throw on a pair of comfortable skinny jeans and long sleeved hoody, along with a pair of strappy sandals, for the flight.

"An airport shuttle bus is picking _me_ up in ten minutes and we'll be by your house to pick _you_ up in twenty."

"I'll be ready," Tori said as she grabbed the large brown shoulder tote she'd used as a school backpack and started tossing her makeup and a few pairs of shorts, panties, tank tops and t-shirts into it. She also packed another pair of skinny jeans, just in case, along with her pair of purple high-top tennis shoes. "I'll see you in a bit." Tori tucked the phone into a pants pocket and glanced around the room to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything before she headed to her bathroom for her toiletries and then raced downstairs for a quick breakfast.

She'd briefly considered bringing along the myriad of rings, bracelets and necklaces she had collected over the years, sometimes wearing up to seven or eight bracelets at a time around her right wrist and two or three rings on her fingers of one hand, but she had recently been thinking about only wearing the jewelry while on stage to separate her personal life from her professional one. Her stage persona required her makeup, apparel and jewelry to be flashy, just like her music, but she wanted her normal everyday life to be toned down so she wouldn't get all big-headed about her rising fame. Like many music stars before her, she thought that could only lead to debauchery, drinking, drugs and disaster, so she left _all_ of her jewelry behind.

Xxxxxx

"No, it just suddenly came up," Tori Vega said via her cellphone to Mason Thornesmith as she and Cat Valentine rode in the back seat of the shuttle bus to L.A.X. (Los Angeles International Airport) "We're not supposed to start on the new album for a few weeks and this wonderful opportunity came up to get away from it all in western Colorado with some friends." Tori knew that was a partial lie, she only knew Cat and hadn't heard back from the two girls from Seattle, but it made the trip sound legit. She listened to her manager for a minute before replying, "Yes, I'll let you know if I need anything and I'll have my PearPhone if anything comes up. Don't worry, I've already started writing songs for the next album and I'll be back in L.A. in a couple of weeks. Yeah, bye."

"Managers," Cat giggled as she watched Tori put her cellphone back in her pocket. "I had the same conversation with my manager on the way over to pick you up." (While Cat had signed with Neutronium Records, Mason wasn't handling her career. He had one of his other minions managing it.)

"I wouldn't doubt it," Tori huffed before she became pensive. She begged, "But are we doing the right thing? I mean what do we really know about this guy?"

"Actually, not much," Cat answered, also a bit wary. "I tried to look Paul Bowman up on the web but there were waaaaay too many Paul Bowmans to search through so I couldn't find out anything about him specifically. He doesn't have a Splash Face or Twitter© account so I couldn't find out his likes or dislikes, either. But when I talked to him this morning I got the impression that he's a really nice guy."

"Yeah," Tori sighed in resignation as she sat back in her seat, "that's the impression I got when I talked to him yesterday." Tori thanked the heavens that Cat had that almost sixth sense about people and that they both thought Paul was okay.

"So what's the problem?" the magenta-hue haired girl asked as the shuttle bus entered the L.A.X. area and she pulled out a small tube that looked like a breath freshening spray from her pink backpack, but slightly larger, and showed it to her friend. "If he tries anything funny we mace him and catch the first plane home."

Tori was slightly shocked to see what Cat had in her hand. The label implied it was a mint flavored breath spray but the brand name, **Mace My Breath Fresh**, sounded a bit peculiar. Toni leaned over to her friend and whispered, "You can't take mace on an airplane."

Cat put it back in her backpack and hushed with a wicked grin, "I've never been stopped before at the security check point. They always think it's a tube of breath spray or lip gloss since that's what it looks like when they x-ray my bag."

"Well okay then," Tori returned the slightly evil smile feeling a bit better about the whole situation as the vehicle pulled up to their terminal. "But you're gonna have to tell me where you got that so I can buy one."

"Oh, you can have this one, I have lots more," Cat perked up, dug back into her carry-on and handed the small tube to her, then dug around in her bag again before coming out with two more tubes just like the first.

Tori smirked to the clever redhead when she saw one of the mace vials was supposedly Pina Colada flavored and the other was Strawberry/Kiwi.

The brunette singer was quickly brought out of her thoughts as they were getting out of the shuttle bus when Cat randomly asked, "Say Tori, if you choke a Smurf, what color does he turn?"


	2. Meeting Their Host

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and/or Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fan fiction from my twisted mind.

Premise: Tori Vega get invited out to Colorado for a little rest and relaxation after finishing high school and starting her career. The only problem is she doesn't know what's in store after she accepts the invite.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 2

Meeting Their Host

Xxxxxx

The two girls made their flight with only minutes to spare. They had arrived at the airport in plenty of time but a young fan-girl had recognized the two up and coming pop stars just after they'd checked in and received their tickets, and let out a piercing scream of excitement that drew other's attention. That led to pictures and autographs, which led to additional autographs and pictures as more and more people recognized the two young singers in the rapidly gathering, highly excited crowd. Luckily, Airport Security came to the rescue. With a quick, "It's nice to see all our fans but we got a plane to catch," and a cheerful wave, Tori and Cat were quickly hustled past the metal detectors and escorted onto their plane.

The weather was good and the one hour fifty minute flight to Denver, Colorado was pleasant. The two girls chatted most of the way, catching up on what each had been up to since the last time they'd gotten together too many months ago. Tori also found out that Denver wasn't their final destination.

Either the sunglasses they were both wearing hid their identities well or the fact that the large airport was extremely busy helped, but Tori and Cat made it to their connecting flight without being recognized and swamped by fans. (They had also immediately bought hats to further hide their identities during their hour long layover at D.I.A. [Denver International Airport] and that probably helped a bit, too.) The smaller commuter plane to Montrose Colorado wasn't full so they were able to spread out a bit and ride in comfort again, and both teens dozed off during the brief forty minute flight. They were rudely awoken when the wheels touched down at the Montrose Airport.

Crossing the short distance from the plane to the terminal on the tarmac was a unique experience for Tori. Normally all of the much larger airports she'd flown in to during her first tour had an elevated, tunnel-type ramp that the plane would pull up to. Here at the small regional airport, the plane stopped a good thirty or forty yards from the terminal with no loading/deplaning elevated ramp in site. In fact, the terminal was only one story tall so she figured all of the passengers on all of the planes that arrived or departed had to walk across the tarmac. The two girls were making their way toward the terminal when Cat looked around, stopped in her tracks and marveled, "Wow! It's so beautiful here."

Tori turned to see what had caught Cat's attention. The sight of snow-capped mountains a short distance behind them took her breath away.

"Those must be some of the Rocky Mountains," Cat reverently hushed, gazing at the seemingly endless line of majestic peaks that spanned the horizon to the east. "I've only seen them from an airplane while flying over 'em to one of my gigs."

The taller of the two girls lightly chuckled at what her friend had found so fascinating. Then it hit Tori that she hadn't witnessed the splendorous site from the ground either. The vista truly was _magnificent._ After a moment, she grabbed the redhead's arm and started toward the terminal as she said, "I think we'll see them again and maybe a whole lot more stuff that we haven't seen before. Let's go."

"'Kay-'kay."

Since they didn't bring any luggage except their carry-on bags, they were able to bypass the luggage carousel and walked directly out into the main concourse. Cat immediately spotted Paul Bowman standing there, waiting for them, so they approached the tall well-tanned gentleman. He was wearing a Rolling Stones t-shirt, a pair of tan cargo shorts and wide strapped sandals. The deeply tanned man looked like he'd be more at home on a Santa Monica beach than in southwest Colorado.

Only Cat noticed the brief look of longing or sadness on the man's face when he first spotted the two teens. Tori was more preoccupied with checking out the terminal and the other people there to pick up their fellow passengers, but Cat wrote it off as maybe Paul having a sour stomach or something to that effect. The look was brief and had morphed into a broad smile almost immediately, so the petite redhead didn't think on it any further.

"You made it okay," he grinned. "Are you all set?"

"You told us to pack light," Tori joked as she adjusted the large brown bag hanging from her shoulder.

"I need to pick up a few things in town before we head out to the ranch," Paul mentioned as he led the two girls out of the small terminal to his vehicle parked just outside the doors. "I forgot to ask. Do either of you need anything special? I mean diet wise to eat or drink." Cat told him that she was hypoglycemic but always kept a stash of power bars with her to counteract the drop in blood sugar. Paul nodded and told her that he would pickup an extra supply of the high energy treats in town before they proceeded on to the ranch.

They all got into the front seat of Paul's large silver SUV with Tori in the middle and Cat next to the passenger door. Paul pulled away from the curb to circle around the fenced in, long term parking lot but didn't drive out onto what appeared to be the main road. Instead, he circled around the lot like he was going to pull up to the terminal again, but then turned to the right away from the building.

Cat noticed that they were driving past airplane hangers and other warehouses that were situated along the runway so she curiously asked, "Why are we going this way? Is it a shortcut?"

Paul answered as he pulled up next to one of the buildings and stopped the SUV, "I need to pick up something here that I think you'll both enjoy. I'll just be a minute." He stepped out of the vehicle, got a medium sized plastic cooler from the back seat and disappeared into the building. A few minutes later he emerged and put the cooler in the back seat again.

"What'cha got in the cooler?" Tori tentatively asked, not sure if she really wanted to know. Her imagination was going wild at this point, fearing it might be something like a human heart for transplant or maybe a few pints of blood because Paul was really a vampire. (She really should stop watching those cheesy horror movies before going to bed late at night.)

"I have a friend who operates a shrimp boat down in Cape Coral, Florida," Paul responded before he closed the back door and slipped back into the driver's seat, then continued. "He sends me a coupla pounds of his catch once a month, just for old times sake."

"Fresh gulf shrimp?" Tori's mouth started to water. Her family had once taken a vacation to Saint Petersburg on the 'left coast' of Florida and she remembered how wonderful fresh Gulf of Mexico seafood tasted. Tori marveled, "That must cost you a fortune, having him ship it out here all the time."

"Not really," Paul waved off the implication. "In return, I send him a side of elk, deer or beef once or twice a year so it's a fair trade."

"Elk?" Cat wondered aloud. "I've never seen a live elk before... Or a deer... Or a beef!"

"You will," Paul promised as he pulled onto the main north-south, four lane road that ran through town. (The airport was situated on the north end of the small town of just under twenty thousand residents.) "There are deer who live in the canyon year round and I see them almost every day. We can also drive a few miles to where the elk usually hang out year round and the ranchers haven't started moving their cattle up to the higher pastures just yet."

"Wow," Cat exhaled in stunned wonderment. "You must live a _long_ ways out of town if you have deer living on your property."

"Not really," Paul chuckled as he turned a corner and pulled into a supermarket parking lot. "The ranch is only about ten miles out of town. As a matter of fact, deer can often be seen wandering around _in_ town during the winter."

"That's a traffic hazard you'll never see in Hollywood," the brunette gaily quipped. Cat and Paul joined in, laughing at Tori's little joke.

Paul Bowman had pulled into a parking stall at the outer edge of the lot, far away from the building. He put the vehicle in park and asked, "Now, would either of you like to come in with me or would you rather stay out here? I'm asking because you'll probably be recognized."

"That's a good point," Tori ceded while thinking over the situation. She and Cat had worn sunglasses and hats (she a baseball cap and Cat the large floppy sunbonnet they had purchased at the Denver airport during their short layover) when they were on the commuter plane and in the small airport so not very many people would've recognized them, especially since most of their fellow travelers were more concerned with their flight or retrieving their luggage afterword. But in the supermarket there would be too many people that they'd have to avoid over the next two weeks while visiting the town if they wanted to stay incognito. Tori nervously said, "Maybe we'll stay here in the car and wait. I notice that the windows are well tinted so no one can look into the vehicle."

"That's true, and for a very good reason," Paul laughed. "I always take all my clothes off and drive home naked whenever I come into town. I'll be back in a few minutes." With that, Paul exited the SUV and walked toward the building, grabbing a stray shopping cart along the way.

The two girls were silent for a whole minute as what Paul said filtered into their minds. Suddenly Cat started to giggle as she reached for the button and zipper of her short-short denim shorts and started to undo them.

"What?" Tori begged her giddy friend.

"Paul said he'll be naked when he drives us out to the ranch. I think we should join him." She swiftly stripped the shorts off, leaving her in a simple pink tank top, pink panties decorated with tiny purple giraffes and her pink flip flops and broad-brimmed hat. The redhead folded her hands in her lap and sat there smiling after stuffing the denims in her bag.

"Caaaaat!," Tori shrieked in surprise at her friend taking her pants off. The brunette shot a quick nervous glance around the parking lot, seeing if anyone was close enough to their vehicle to notice. Fortunately there wasn't a car parked within ten yards of where they were and there were plenty of parking spots closer to the supermarket that were unoccupied, too. She figured no one would park near the SUV unless they didn't want their car or truck (there seemed to be a lot more pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles than cars in town) to get damaged.

"What Tori," Cat innocently asked as she looked to her girl friend. "Paul practically told us he's gonna strip naked when he drives home and I think we should be good guests and join him. I'm just waiting for him to get back out here before I take off the rest of my clothes."

"But..." the brunette songstress started before she thought about it. Tori knew she'd be asked to get naked when they arrived at the ranch where they'd be staying for the next two weeks and that it'd simply be rude not to join in on the nudity on the way out there. She glanced around the parking lot one more time before slowly, anxiously unbuttoning her jeans. The zipper gave her a bit of a problem, it always did. For some unknown unfathomable reason, she always had trouble unzipping her skinny jeans. Tori finally worked the zipper and, still cautiously peering around the exterior of the vehicle, lowered the jeans off her legs. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw no one was near the SUV, so she stuffed the denims in her tote.

"Here he comes," Cat gleefully squealed, pointing out the window. She quickly grabbed the hem to her tank top and slowly started to peel the garment off as Paul placed two full bags of groceries in the back of the SUV.

Paul noticed what the redheaded girl was doing and said, "Why don't you hold off on that for now, Cat."

"But why?" the redhead asked in confusion, a normal state of mind when things didn't pan out like she thought they should. "Aren't we all getting naked for the ride home?"

Paul shut the tailgate window of the vehicle and moved to the driver's seat before he answered. He closed the door, turned to the two entertainers and said, "I know you've already agreed to my house rule but we should discuss a few things so you fully understand what you're about to do."

"Oh! 'Kay-'kay," Cat automatically chimed. She lowered the hem of the shirt before she asked, "What do we need to talk about?"

"Well first," Paul said as he started the SUV then proceeded to pull out of the lot, "I want to make sure you understand a few different terms that usually cause a bit of confusion when people talk about being naked."

"Um, terms like what?" Tori cautiously begged.

"Well for example, do you know the difference between an Exhibitionist verses a Nudist... or as we in the community like to call ourselves, a Naturist?"

Cat quickly raised her hand like she was answering a question in school and giggled, "I don't."

Tori smiled at her sometimes addle-brained cohort before she turned back to Paul with her answer. "Neither do I. Aren't they the same thing?"

"No they're not. A Naturist is someone who enjoys being nude as nature intended us to be while a Exhibitionist gets a thrill from showing off their body. They do it for the adrenaline and sexual rush received when they're not-so-unexpectedly caught out in public; Something they intend to happen."

"Oh, I get it," Cat perked. "So a Naturist doesn't get the sexual rush like someone who Flashes does."

"I personally think Flashers are in a totally different subcategory," Paul laughed at Cats analogy, "but you seem to see what I'm getting at."

"I don't," Tori stated in a huff as she heavily sat back in her seat and defiantly crossed her arms. "I mean I get why an Exhibitionist and a Naturist aren't the same, but I don't see the difference between a Flasher and an Exhibitionist. I mean they're both in it for the thrill of being seen."

"Well, yes and no," Paul answered as he turned onto a road that would take them further out of town. They were already seeing fewer and fewer homes and more farmland now. "Most would lump them together but I don't. While it can be said that a Flasher is _exhibiting_ him or her self, I think most Flasher don't expect or get the sexual turn-on from being seen that the Exhibitionist _seeks_ out."

"So you're saying a Flasher does it for the shock value of showing a glimpse of their body while an Exhibitionist does it for the sexual turn-on," Tori said with a nod, now seeing exactly why Paul made the distinction between the two groups. She slyly queried, "So... you don't get turned on by seeing a naked girl?"

"I never said that," Paul laughed as he pulled over to the side of the road half way up a quarter mile long incline in the roadway that led up onto what looked like a vast mesa. They'd only been on the road for a few minutes but they were already out in the country. "After all, I am a red-blooded male. But most Naturists are used to being around other naked people and don't really think about it."

"Ooooh. So they only see the person, not the naked body," Cat sagely said in a moment of total clarity.

Tori and Cat warily looked around where the vehicle had parked. There weren't any buildings close by and they certainly hadn't traveled the ten miles Paul had said they would in order to get to his ranch. Cat queried, "Why did we stop here?"

"We're about to leave the valley," Paul said, pointing to his left, back toward town, "and I've always loved this view. I thought you two might enjoy it."

"Oh wow," Tori marveled as she gazed out on the broad valley they were leaving. The town of Montrose looked small in comparison to the still snow-capped mountains in the distance beyond. Just below them were huge fields with a farmer driving a big tractor towing some kind of wide, plowing rig behind it. It looked like he was just getting the field ready for planting.

Cat pointed to something, sweeping her finger along the entire length of the valley floor. "How come there are a lot of trees all in a crooked row and it runs through town?"

"That's the Uncompahgre River. It starts at Como Lake, about one hundred-ninety miles to the south of here and joins up with the Gunnison River near the town of Delta, about twenty miles to the north of Montrose."

"Un-com-pah-gre?" Cat questioned, trying to sound out the word by its syllables.

Paul informed them, "It's a Ute Indian word. It means 'stinky water' and refers to the many hot springs down south near the town of Ridgway."

"It's beautiful out here," Tori softly murmured, if only to herself.

"It certainly is," Cat echoed in hushed reverence.

"And that's one of the reasons I moved to Montrose," Paul said as he pulled back onto the road and drove on.

Cat squealed in delight and almost bounced out of her seat in excitement when a red fox raced across the road in front of them, and both she and Tori held their noses in disgust when the vehicle passed by what was obviously a dead skunk laying on its back at the side of the road, it's black legs pointing skyward. Even with the windows closed, the stench was barely tolerable. Luckily the smell was gone almost as quickly as they had passed the dead animal.

Both Cat and Tori sat up when a strange bird and four small chicks raced across the road. The magenta haired girl queried, "What kinda bird was that?" Tori also wanted to know. The birds were mottled gray/black in color, shaped almost like bowling pins (pear shaped bodies with long thin necks) and they all had a long thin spiky looking feather coming out of the tops of their heads that ended in a little ball.

Paul let out a light laugh and answered, "Those were quail."

Before long, Paul turned off the paved roadway onto a gravel and dirt road near a huge concrete block with a six inch diameter pipe sticking out of the top that bent ninety degrees four or five feet above the cement block.

"What's that?" Cat curious asked, turning in her seat as she tried to read the small sign on the side of the enormous concrete block. They'd passed by it too quickly for her to read the entire sign. She was only able to read one line which said, '64 gal... 25¢'.

"That a water lift station," Paul answered as he continued past a grove of pine trees, some looking like they were ready to be harvested and sent to the larger cities around the U.S. for people to buy for Christmas.

The redheaded girl scrunched her face in confusion and begged, "Why would anyone want their water to be lifted?"

"You'd be surprised," Paul chuckled as the Christmas tree farm gave way to an open field with a herd of forty or fifty black cattle grazing in it. He pointed them out and said, "And there's your beef, Cat. But getting back to the lift station; The town's water system doesn't run all the way out here so _most_ of the farms use water from a well. But that also means some farms need to get water for their homes somewhere else, so they buy the water at the lift station. "

"So does that means the farms don't have a septic system?" Tori curiously begged, suddenly dreading if she'd have to use an old-fashioned outhouse because she hadn't gone to the bathroom since leaving her parent's house earlier that morning. She'd had a few sodas on the two flights and needed to pee really bad. Tori mistakenly thought that if the area was so rural that the houses weren't served by the town's water works then they might not have _any_ plumbing at all and they'd have to use an outhouse.

Paul slyly smiled as he said, "Some farms have septic systems but not my ranch. I prefer to be a little more green; More ecologically friendly."

"What does that mean?" both girls shot back, Cat sounding a little more outraged than Tori's suspicious tone.

"I'll show you when we get to the ranch," Paul hedged as he turned off onto another gravel road. This one was a lot more narrow and appeared to be headed into a broad canyon, the sides of which rose well over one thousand feet on either side while the roadway meandered along the base of one of the cliffs.

"Is this the canyon you live in?" Cat questioned as she watched a grassy field with a few horses and cattle pass by her window with only a single house that had a long low shed like structure behind it.

"Yes it is," Paul said as he pointed further into the canyon while steering the SUV with one hand. Neither girl feared that they'd crash, he was only going twenty miles an hour, the posted speed limit, along the gravel road kicking up a cloud of dust behind them. "I live at the end of this road, about two miles further in."

They rounded a large S-curve in the cliff face as the canyon narrowed by half. Soon the girls saw two, then a third house situated along the opposite side of the canyon floor with a small wooded area close to the road on the side of the canyon they were traveling on.

Without the question being asked, Paul offered, "Those are my nearest neighbors. We've got another half mile to go."

That set Tori's mind more at ease. If the neighbors were a half mile away and the ranch was at the end of the dead end road then they'd truly be isolated from any prying eyes.

A few minutes later they arrived at a red gate blocking the road. The barrier looked to be made of steel pipes maybe two inches in diameter. Paul pulled up to the gate and asked, "Would one of you mind manning the gate while I drive through?"

"You want it closed after you drive through?" Tori begged as both she and Cat got out of the SUV and stopped before closing the vehicle door.

"Yes. That way nobody will drive onto my property thinking the road continues."

"Clever," Cat giggled as she and the brunette walked to the gate and tried to figure out how to open it. After a few seconds search, Tori found a chain on one end holding the gate closed and unhooked it, then pushed it open and allowed Paul to drive through. Tori closed the gate and hooked it again before she and Cat climbed back into the front seat.

"Did you two enjoy that?" Paul queried with a sly smile.

"Um," the brunette paused, trying to figure out why their host would ask such an odd question. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Paul chuckled as he pulled the SUV up to the two story house hidden by a small grove of trees on the front side and put it in park before shutting off the engine. He turned to the two girls with a big smile as he stated, "You two were just out in the open without any pants on."

Both girls swiftly looked down at their naked legs and realized that they were only dressed in their tops, panties and footwear. Cat gasped in embarrassment, "Oh my God!" and automatically cover her lap with both hands.

Tori, on the other hand, thought about it for a quick second before she realized that she hadn't even thought about her skinny jeans since taking them off in the supermarket parking lot, and that she was now comfortable with not having any pants on. (Even though her panties were similar to the bottoms of a bikini, they were still underwear that's not supposed to be seen out in public.)

Paul's smiled broadened when he saw the content face and growing grin on the brunette as she looked at her bare legs. He nudged Tori with his elbow and asked, "You get it now, don't you?"

"Yeah," the brunette singer said as she smiled brightly in full understanding. "If... no _when_ I take my clothes off out here, I'll forget that I'm naked and be comfortable with it."

"That's the idea," Paul chimed as he opened the door, stepped out and took his shirt off.

Cat interrupted the moment as she looked around the gravel drive and asked, "Um, I have a question. Why do we _park_ in driveways and _drive_ on parkways?"

Xxxxxx

Author's note: Yes, Ariana Grande has mentioned on the web that she's hypoglycemic. Maybe that's why her character on **Victorious** always had some kind of sweet candy stashed in her cleavage, to counteract the drop in her glucose level. Who knows? Maybe she does it in real life, too!


	3. Settling In

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my twisted mind.

Premise: Tori Vega and Cat get invited out to Colorado for a little rest and relaxation after finishing high school and starting their careers in the entertainment field. They're just beginning to learn what's all in store for them after they'd accepted the invitation.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 3

Settling In

Xxxxxx

Paul Bowman stepped out of the silver SUV, stripped his shirt off and tossed it on the driver's seat before shutting the door and retrieving the cooler and groceries from the back of the vehicle. He walked passed the girls who were gawking at the house and the view of the canyon and said, "Come on. I'll give you the nickel tour of the house and then let you get settled in."

Tori was broken out of her sightseeing and quickly followed as she asked, "Before the tour, can I see the bathroom first?"

"Of course," Paul said, stopping at the front door and setting the cooler down so he could open it. "You've been on the go for three or four hours now." He opened the door and allowed the two girls to enter before he picked up the cooler and headed for the kitchen. "Let me put a few things away first. Just leave your bags and stuff by the door."

"I can help," Cat enthused as she snatched the cooler from Paul's hand and headed for the large refrigerator/freezer just inside the kitchen doorway.

"Just put the packages on the bottom shelf," Paul instructed as he set one of the grocery bags on the spacious counter and brought the other bag over to the fridge. "I'm gonna use some of the shrimp for tonight's dinner." He let Cat put the two big bags of frozen shrimp on the shelf and then placed a few of the perishable containers on a different one before closing the door.

He put the other non-perishables on the counter, then with a come hither wave led the girls out of the kitchen and down a hallway. Paul stopped at an open door and said, "This is the bathroom on this floor. As I mentioned earlier, I try to stay as green and ecologically friendly as possible. That means there's no sewer or septic system in the house."

Tori scrunched up her face in confusion and asked, "Then how do you get rid of the um, you know, waste?"

Paul led the two girls into the bathroom and pointed to the toilet. It looked similar to a regular one except that it wasn't narrow below the bowl, it was boxier. "This is a composting toilet. Instead of flushing the waste, you have to empty it manually."

"Ewww, gross!" Cat cried in disgust. "You mean you have to do it with your hands?"

"No, no," Paul chuckled as he opening a short, two foot tall, white container sitting on the floor next to the toilet that looked like a standard metal garbage can, only made of plastic and a lot smaller. He grabbed a handful of material from the can and held it out for the girls to see as he said, "This is composting material. You need to put a cupful of this in the bowl after you use the toilet." He dumped the stuff that looked a little like tiny wood shavings, sawdust, dirt and small crumpled leaves back in the trash can and then pulled a hidden handle out that was situated at the front of the toilet bowl just below the seat. "Once a day the drum in the toilet needs to be turned clockwise... six rotations. Don't worry about that, I always do it before I go to bed. Then once a week, I rotate the barrel counter clockwise which empties the barrel into a tray at the bottom." He pulled the tray out to show them. "I can then take this tray outside and add it to the compost pile."

"That seems simple enough," Tori said as she checked over the toilet and container of composting material one more time. "Now if you don't mind, I need to pee."

"Me too," Cat blurted out, crossing her arms and legs in front of her and anxiously bouncing in place like she'd just realized that she needed to go to the bathroom bad.

"I'll leave you two alone to do you business," Paul chuckled as he left the room and closed the door behind him.

"You... you go first," Cat softly stammered, sounding a bit scared.

"Cat, it's just a toilet," Tori defensively stated, shocked that the redhead would be afraid of a simple bathroom fixture.

"Yeah but there's no water in it and I wanna make sure it's safe. It's so _different."_

Tori suddenly remembered when she first stepped into the halls of Hollywood Arts High School and how frightened she had been at the time. It was all so new and... _different._ This wasn't exactly the same thing, but it was different enough for the brunette to be reminded of how much new things can be scary.

"Okay," Tori said as she checked to make sure the lid was up and the seat was down before she dropped her panties as she sat. Cat stood there staring at her so Tori complained, "You're making it hard to pee. Can you _not_ watch?"

"'Kay-'kay," the redhead chirped, swiftly turned and made an effort to check out the bath tub/shower and sink. (Although she would occasionally turn and briefly glance at Tori for a second or two before otherwise occupying herself in the room.)

Finally Tori finished, wiped and started to reach for the flush handle, but realized there wasn't one. She stood up and started to pull her panties up, then decided not to. Instead, she stepped out of them, picked them up and stuffed them in a pocket of the hoody.

"Okay Cat," Tori said to get the her friend's attention. "It's your turn."

The red velvet-hue haired songstress anxiously peered at the fixture and moaned, "I can't."

Tori immediately realized the problem her friend was having. Cat was nervous about using the toilet, afraid that it wouldn't work properly. Tori jokingly said, "Don't worry, it won't bite you. All you have to do is sit on it like a regular toilet."

"Oh," Cat yipped in what seemed to be surprise. She warily positioned herself and slowly sat down as she pulled her giraffe decorated underwear to her knees.

Out of common courtesy, Tori turned her back to the magenta-hue haired girl and waited. After a minute she finally heard some splashing in the composting material, a sound she recognized from when she'd done her business a few minutes earlier.

"Hey," Cat perked. "This isn't so bad."

That brought a broad smile to Tori's face. The drama was over and done with. At least for now.

"Okay I'm ready," Cat said after wiping and standing up, automatically pulling her panties up around her bottom. She opened the top of the compost can and asked, "Now, do we need to add two cups of this stuff since two of us went to the bathroom?"

The question made Tori stop and think, something she had done far too much over the last day-and-a-half if you asked her. She considered it for a moment before answering, "I don't know. Maybe we should only add one cup and then ask Paul. He would know if we need to add a second cup."

"'Kay-'kay," Cat chimed as she scooped a heaping cup full of compost material out of the can with the measuring scoop she found inside the bucket, then tossed it into the bowl. She dropped the scoop back in the can, brushed off her hands and put the lid back on. "There!"

Cat noticed Tori's bare butt sticking out below the hem of her hoody as the two girls left the room. She yelp, "Tori! You're bottomless!"

"Yes I am," Tori nervously laughed as the two stopped outside the bathroom door to talk. "I figured why pull them up if I'm gonna take them off soon anyway."

"That makes sense," Cat said, then stripped off her tank top and panties leaving her in only her pink flip flops. The redhead closed her eyes for a few seconds as she took a deep, cleansing breath and then slowly let it out. She opened her eyes, broadly grinned and giggled, "Hey, I like being naked. Now I don't have to decide what I'm gonna wear in the morning." Another thought struck her and she happily gasped in realization, "Oh! And there won't be as much laundry to do each week."

"You have two very good points," Tori laughed, feeling much better and more at ease now that one of them was naked. She grabbed the bottom of her hoody and, with a slight pause to gather her nerve, finally bared her body. (Except for the sandal on her feet.)

The two girls moved back to the front door where they'd dropped their carry-on bags, sunglasses and hats when they'd first walked in the house, deposited their clothes and moved on to the kitchen. There they found Paul at the sink in just his shorts (having taken off his sandals when he'd entered the house) working on something.

"What'cha doing?" Cat asked as she quickly moved over to the counter next to the sink and leaned on it, trying to see what Paul was working on. (And maybe to hide her nudity a little bit from him.)

"I'm peeling and deveining some of the shrimp for tonight," Paul answered without taking his eyes off what he was doing. He was running water over a bowl with some of the frozen shrimp in it, thawing them before he removed the hard exoskeleton shell and the vein that ran down the back. "I'm going to make Etouffe."

"Et Two Fay?" the redhead questioned, sounding out the syllables again with the strange French word. "What's that?"

Before Paul could answer, Tori shrieked, "Oh my gawd, I simply _love_ Etouffe! Are we having dirty rice with it?"

"That's the plan," Paul laughed at the taller girl's enthusiasm. He turned to her and was about to ask Tori where she'd had the dish before when he noticed she was naked. He glanced at Cat confirming the redhead was in a similar state of undress, turned off the water and started putting things away before he asked, "Are you ready for the tour of the rest of the house?" Before he could get too far they all heard an old-fashioned _"telephone r__ing"_ coming from another room. Paul wiped his hands off on a dish towel and said, "Excuse me, I just received an e-mail on my computer and it might be important."

"Go ahead," Tori waved him off as she stepped up to the sink and grabbed the paring knife. "I'll finish prepping the shrimp while you attend to business."

"Do you know what to do?" Paul warily asked as he slowly started for the door out of the kitchen.

"I think so," Tori said as she picked up a shrimp then started to expertly take the shell off of it. "I worked in a sushi restaurant for one day, mostly chopping up squid. But Robbie and I had to prepare ten or fifteen pounds of raw shrimp, too."

"Do I wanna know just _why _you worked in a Japanese restaurant for only one day?" Paul laughed as he stopped in the doorway, out of curiosity, to finish the conversation.

"My friend was supposed to pay but he forgot his wallet when we ate lunch there," Tori laughed at remembering the incident at Nozu a year or so ago, "and Mrs. Lee wouldn't let us call anyone. She made us work in the kitchen to pay off the meal. We missed almost a whole afternoon of classes."

"So that's what happened to you and Robbie that day?" Cat queried in surprise. "He asked me to look after Rex while you two went to lunch and you didn't come back til school was almost over. Rex really creeped me out since all he would do is just sit there and stare at me. I'd wondered what happened to you two."

"I'll probably be a few minutes," Paul chuckled at Tori's misfortune during the incident as he ducked out the door.

Twenty minutes later, as Cat and Tori were cleaning up the sink and putting things away, Paul returned to the kitchen all smiles.

"Was it good news?" Cat asked as she placed the packages of peeled and deveined shrimp back in the refrigerator. "It must be 'cause you're smiling." Paul _was_ smiling, and he still had his cargo shorts on.

"I believe it's good news," Paul said as he took the shrimp out of the fridge and saw they were _all_ peeled and deveined, even the package he'd left in the refrigerator that was supposed to be for another meal. He turned to Tori and begged, "You did all of them?"

"Yes, shouldn't I have?"

"I wasn't planning on it, but it's okay," Paul said as he placed the shrimp back in the fridge and closed the door. "It seems we're going to have three more people coming to stay for a week or two."

"Three more people?" Cat gasped in shock. "I'd better get dressed before they see me."

Paul grabbed the redhead by the arm as she started to dash out of the kitchen and said, "It's alright, Cat. They are three teens, just like you, who want to get away for a little vacation. And you already know them."

"Really?" the redheaded songstress begged. "Who are they?"

"I'm not going to tell you," Paul coyly said as he started to leave the kitchen. "Come on. I'll give you the nickel tour now."

As Paul showed the two young women around the house, except for his downstairs bedroom which was declared off limits, they tried every verbal persuasion they could think of to get him to tell who was coming. Even a pleading, puppy dog-type pouting face from both girls couldn't sway Paul to tell them.

After Cat and Tori saw the inside of the house and each had picked a bedroom on the second floor to sleep in for the duration of their stay, Paul led them outside to the back patio.

Neither of the girl had seen the patio when they'd arrived since it was on the other side of the house from where they'd entered and they were both stunned. The pool, cabana and deck area was a lot larger than either of them had envisioned from the pics Paul had sent. The pool was bigger than either girl had pictured it and there was a decent sized, fenced in vegetable garden just beyond. The pictures also hadn't show the jacuzzi situated beside the cabana.

"Wow!" Cat marveled as Paul led her and Tori over to the cabana and dug out a couple of towels and some sunblock.

"Why don't you two rest out here by the pool for a while," Paul suggested as he started off around the pool toward the garden. "I need to pull a few weeds while I have the time."

"Paul," Tori caught their host's attention before he could get too far. "How come you haven't taken your pants off yet?"

Paul looked down at his cargo shorts before turning back to the two girls. He shrugged a shoulder and nonchalantly replied, "Because I thought it'd be better for you to get used to being naked before you had to deal with a nude guy." He then turned and walked out to the garden before either Cat or Tori could respond.

"Wow," Cat quietly exhaled. "That is so..."

"Yeah," Tori immediately agreed. They both thought it was highly considerate of Paul to put aside his normal Naturist lifestyle just to let them get comfortable first.

Cat started to wander around the pool looking for the perfect place for them to sit down. She finally settled on a pair of sturdy wooden chaise lounges sitting together that had a half canopy top to shade a person's head and upper body and plopped down into one of them before she called out, "Hey Tori! These are _really_ comfortable!"

The tall brunette singer moved to the other chaise, figured out how to adjust the canopy so it would only shade her head and shoulders then spread her towel out and sat down after kicking off her sandals. Tori started to spread the sunblock Paul had given them over her body, thinking it'd be a good idea since certain parts had never been exposed to the Sun before and might be a bit more susceptible to the burning rays.

"Do you want me to get your legs and feet?" Cat giggled as she got up from her chair and swiftly snatched the bottle of lotion out of Tori's hand. "I sometimes miss a spot when I do myself." Without waiting for Tori to answer, the redhead squirted some of the white goo onto both of Tori's shins and went to work.

Tori felt a bit uncomfortable with someone else rubbing lotion onto her skin, especially since they were both totally naked. She didn't have a boyfriend right now, and even when she had been going out with a guy she never let him touch her in a provocative way. Sure they would kiss and cuddle on the couch but it never went farther than that.

Now here Tori was, bare ass naked and letting her girl friend's hands move further and further up her legs.

As Cat's hands moved upward passed her knees, Tori nervously laughed, "Thanks Cat. I think can get it from there."

"'Kay-'kay," Cat said and sat down next to Tori's legs on the chaise, looking at her like she expected to watch Tori lotion up the rest of her nude body.

The brunette started on her thighs but when she looked back at Cat she noticed something. Thinking back, she remembered that the redhead always seemed to have a perpetual tan going on, but now Tori could see that the petite girl had a _total_ tan from head to foot. Tori would normally tan by the pool outside of her parent's kitchen if she didn't have time to head to the beach. The patio/pool area was well guarded from spying eyes by a row of bushes and trees on the open sides and the steep hill behind the house, but she never went out there to tan nude. She just couldn't bring herself to do it so she always wore a bikini, or more, while out on the patio and now sported some very nice tan lines.

She just had to ask. "Cat, why don't you have any tan lines like I do? I thought you said you haven't tried the Naturist lifestyle before?"

"I haven't," the smaller girl defensively yelped.

"Then why don't you have any tan lines?"

"Oh that," Cat sighed in relief, sounding like she thought Tori had been mad at her for some reason but now understood what her friend wanted to know. "My parents own a tanning bed but I only use it when I know they'll be out for a couple of hours. When they're gone I sneak in, take off all my clothes and tan for an hour, then get dressed. But I never did it when I knew anyone would be around."

"Hey, that's right," Tori said in realization, remembering something her friend had mentioned yesterday when they'd talked about accepting Paul's invitation. "You said you were interested in checking out that nudist place in Topanga Canyon but your manager vetoed it."

"That's right. My private secret tanning sessions were so much fun that I started to look around the web to see if I could tan naked someplace else around L.A.. That's when I discovered Elysium Fields in Topanga."

"Elysium went out of business in the late '90's," Paul informed as he walked up on the two girls. "Ed Lange, the owner, passed away in 1995 and his two daughters sold the land." He turned to Cat and said, "You probably found someone's old website from when the place was still open."

"Aw phooey," Cat sadly sighed. She suddenly perked up and hopefully begged, "So are there any other places like it in L.A.?"

"Not really," Paul answered as he sat down on the lounge Cat had been laying on before she moved over to help Tori with the sunscreen. "Elysium had around seven hundred members at the time it closed. They tried to move out to a spot in Malibu but it was just too far away for most of the members to drive to. The only designated Nudist areas close to L.A. now are Black's Beach in La Jolla and there are a couple of hotels in Palm Springs that cater to Naturists."

"How do you know all this?" Tori begged in astonishment that someone from Colorado would know about the Naturist scene more than a thousand miles away. She absently slathered lotion on her stomach and chest and continued to rub it in.

"I was a member of Elysium at the time," Paul informed the two nineteen year olds as he stood up, "plus, I'm a member of a few Naturist clubs. I love to travel and stay at resorts that cater to my lifestyle." He started for the house and said over his shoulder, "I'm gonna get dinner started. I'll call you when it's ready." Paul stopped at the door and added, "Be sure to put sunscreen on your breasts and vaginal area so they don't burn. We're at an elevation of sixty-five hundred feet above sea level here so the Sun's rays are a lot stronger than in Hollywood." He quickly disappeared into the house.

"That is _so_ true," Cat sagely nodded as if she knew that fact before she snatched the bottle of sunscreen from her friend and started to go to work on her own naked body. "One time, my brother forgot to use sunscreen when he was naked outside in our back yard and he got sunburned in places that you just _don't_ want to get sunburned."

Tori had no doubt that Cat was telling the truth. She remembered a few of the bizarre stories Cat had told her about her brother back at Hollywood Arts High School, and could almost picture Cat's strange brother running around outside without any clothes on and sunburning his crotch and butt, among other things.

But then again, her brother's antic might've be one of the reasons Cat became interested in the Naturalist's lifestyle. She'd watch him having fun, running around without any clothes on outdoors, and wanted to try it herself.

Tori was brought out of her musing when Cat curiously begged, "Speaking of sunburning parts of a body... What hair color do they put on a bald guy's driver's license?"

Xxxxxx

The two ladies only stayed out by the pool for an hour or so. Neither had anything to read and they'd slept and talked enough on the planes to bring them up to date about what was happening in their lives. (Tori had prevented Cat from taking the Sky Store catalog from both flights, remembering the incident where the redhead had gone nuts and orders a lot of goofy things from it when they where at Hollywood Arts.)

Cat and Tori wandered into the kitchen and found Paul standing at the sink washing a few utensils. There was a marvelous aroma coming from the large pot on the stove as the Cajun dish slowly simmered. The petite redhead asked, "What else is there to do around here?"

"What do you want to do?" Paul queried as he finished at the sink and dried his hands. He turned to the two singers and said, "The Etouffe will be ready in about twenty minutes but our other guests should be arriving shortly. Their plane landed about a half hour ago."

"Don't you need to pick them up?" Cat curiously asked.

"I was going to but they decided to rent a car, instead. That way they'll have something to drive around in to see the sights."

Tori defensively shot, "Well, we're both rich enough that we could've rented a car too. What if we want to see the sights?"

"If you want to go anywhere," Paul kindly answered as he stirred the pot on the stove, making sure it didn't stick or burn on the bottom, "then you can use one of my vehicles. They wanted a car to get around in and all I have is the SUV and two Jeeps: One's a hard top and other's rag a top."

"Oh, well, I guess that's okay then," Tori responded, satisfied with his answer. She could definitely see herself driving around the countryside in that big comfortable SUV or a snazzy little Jeep.

Paul put the lid back on the pot and turned to the two singers. "Don't worry about what they're driving. I'm paying for the rental so you can use it too if you'd like." Suddenly, a soft noise was heard coming from outside, sounding like tires crunching on the gravel driveway. Paul clapped his hands once and happily announced, "That must be them now."

The three moved to the front door with Cat and Tori holding back a little to hide in case it was someone they didn't want seeing them because they were both naked. Paul opened the front door and greeted two girls, a sight that instantly put Tori and Cat at ease.

"Carly? Sam?" the tall brunette singer laughingly begged in relief when she recognized the two ladies at the door from the highly popular web show and when they'd mingled at Kenan's house party. "I didn't know you were going to show up here?"

Tori had messaged the brunette web star the previous day after she and Cat decide they wanted to accept the invitation but hadn't heard back from Carly Shay or her blonde co-host from the web show **iCarly**.

"Tori? Cat?" the raven-haired web hostess gasped when she noticed the two coming out from their hiding spot. She giggled, "I guess this _is_ a clothes free ranch. It's great to see you two in the flesh."

"Mamma likes what she sees, too," Samantha 'Sam' Puckett joked with a laugh as she lasciviously eyed the short redhead and tall brunette.

"Wait a minute," Cat suddenly perked up as she glanced around the hallway just inside the front door. She turned to Paul and queried, "I thought you said _three_ people were coming? Carly and Sam only count as two."

"I guess I would be the third person," the deep male voice said as Fredward 'Freddie' Benson stepped through the open front door carrying three overnight bags which he set down, then snaked an arm around Carly's waist, pulling her close. He smirked, "You don't think I would let my girlfriend come out here without me. Do you?"

"Freddie!" rang out from both Tori and Cat, but with different inflections in the tone and demeanor. Cat seemed pleasantly surprised and happy to see the web show technical producer.

Tori, on the other hand, quickly tried to cover herself with her arms as she shouted in surprise and embarrassment.

Xxxxxx

Author's Notes: Elysium Fields was a real place just west of L.A. and all the facts presented in this story are true. I was a member back in the late eighties and early nineties. I found it to be a great way to reduce stress and just get away from the normal hustle and bustle of everyday life in Los Angeles. (Plus it had a big old honkin' Jacuzzi that could easily seat twenty five or thirty people!)

And just to clear something up. I differentiate between the terms girlfriend and girl friend (and boyfriend and boy friend) in my writing. The first being someone who is in a romantic relationship and the second being 'just friends". Some writers don't differentiate between the two terms but I do so there isn't any confusion. (There are so many Jori stories on this site I don't want you to think this is a lesbian story. Just something to think about.)


	4. Dinner and Entertainment

Disclaimer: I don't own the copyrights to the shows **iCarly** and **Victorious**, Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon do. I just used the characters for my own enjoyment... And I really do enjoy writing about the gang and their antics.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 4

Dinner and Entertainment

Xxxxxx

"Freddie?!"

The technical producer for the web show **iCarly** genially smiled as he replied, "Hi Cat. Hey Tori..." One eyebrow raised slightly as he smirked and slyly joked, "...Or are you Shelby Marx?"

Tori Vega immediately shot her arms akimbo while angrily glaring at the guy and loudly retorted, "I don't look anything like her!"

"Who's Shelby Marx?" Cat begged in confusion, feeling a little left out of the conversation since the focus now seemed to be between Tori and Freddie.

Samantha 'Sam' Puckett looked between the two brunettes facing off, seemingly in a staring contest as neither of the two were going to give ground (Freddie with his question and Tori with her denial) and laughingly answered, "Shelby's the CFC champ who fought Carly a few years ago in a charity match up in Seattle. And I gotta say she and Tori look like they could be twins to me."

"I do _not_ look anything like Shelby Marx," Tori vehemently denied again.

"I'm afraid you do," Paul chuckled, hoping to end the argument. He was relieved that Tori was focusing on the dispute and not on being naked like when she first saw Freddie. He wanted to take his cargo shorts off but was waiting until they were all comfortable with being sans clothing. "I can pull up a few pics of Shelby on my computer and we can compare them to you... later. But first why don't you and Cat show Carly, Sam and Freddie around and get them settled in upstairs while I finish getting dinner ready?"

"Sure," Cat readily agreed with a giggle and quickly grabbed Carly by the wrist to drag her further into the house. "You gotta see this place. The toilets don't have any water in 'em!"

"No water in the toilets?" Carly laughed along as she allowed the exuberant redhead to rapidly pull her down the hallway toward the downstairs bathroom. Tori and Sam followed, thoroughly enjoying the magenta-red haired girl's exuberance.

Freddie picked up the bags, turned to their host and queried, "Composting toilets?"

Paul Bowman nodded with a smile as he answered, "It was the only way to go if I didn't want to be disturbed by a septic truck every month. It's bad enough having to quickly get dressed when the propane truck delivers without any notice."

"What about the gray water?" Freddie queried, wondering about the dirty water that went down the drain in the showers and sinks and such.

Paul beamed a smile at the technically minded teen. "That's stored in a tank in the garage. When it gets full, I simply drain the tank into the irrigation canal and let the gray water seep into the ground where it's filtered back into the area's natural water table." He turned to make his way to the kitchen and said over his shoulder, "Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes, but take you time."

Xxxxxx

After Cat demonstrated how to use the composting toilet, Tori took over the tour and led everyone out to view the pool area before leading the four teens up the stair to choose a bedroom. Carly and Freddie opted to stay in the same room while Sam chose the one next to Cat's bedroom. The three recently arrived teens promptly stripped out of their clothes before heading downstairs with the two singers.

As the five teens made their way down the stairs, Tori questioned the iCarly trio, "How come you all got naked right away? Don't you feel the least bit freaked out about it?"

Carly spoke up for the newcomers. "I learned all about the Nudist lifestyle when I went to live with my dad in Italy almost two years ago. Europe is much more relax about nudity and I guess I kinda fell in love with it while I was there for my senior year of high school. When I graduated, I realized I really missed Sam and Freddie... Well Freddie more so, that's why we're a couple now. Anyway, I flew back home to Seattle and introduced Spencer, Sam and Freddie to my new lifestyle. Now we don't get dressed unless we leave the apartment or are doing the web show."

Sam quickly joked, "Or if Spencer is using a chainsaw or blowtorch or something wicked-bad on one of his sculptures."

Cat curiously begged, "And you're all okay with it?"

Sam chuckled as she answered, "It was kinda weird at first, but the only real obstacle was Freddie's mom."

Freddie took over the story as he continued, "Mom wasn't too thrilled about me being naked around two girls and another guy, but after I did a little research on the web and was able to show her a few scientific studies on the _health_ benefits of being naked, she finally came around."

Cat queried the brown-eyed boy with an embarrassed giggle, "So does that mean your mom gets naked too?"

"Only when she's asleep at night in her own bedroom," Freddie said with a slow, disgusted shake of his head at the thought of his mother, Marissa Benson, naked in her bedroom. "And she _insists_ we all wear a bath robe or at least something to cover our private parts whenever we're over at my place to prevent our teenage hormones from going out of whack."

"So we all practically live with Spenser and never go into Freddie's apartment unless it's absolutely necessary," Carly laughed before she turned to the taller of the two singers. "But you seem to be handling the nudity well enough."

Tori genially laughed and she answered as the five young adults made their way into the dining room, "Well, I did kinda freak when I found out about the house rule. But it's like when I filled in for my sister Trina in the Big Showcase. After singing a few stanzas I became comfortable with the situation, and now I'm getting comfortable without any clothes on."

Their host, Paul, was standing at the head of the table still wearing his tan cargo shorts. He spread out is arms in welcome and said, "Please sit down. Dinner is ready."

The teens all took a seat, the **iCarly** gang sitting on one side of the table while Cat and Tori sat opposite them. Cat noticed that there was a big bath towel folded in half and laid across the seat of her chair, so she asked, "What's with the towel?"

"It's just a precaution," Paul answered as he scooped some of the dirty rice onto his plate, then passed the serving dish on to Carly who was sitting to his right. "It was a general rule at Elysium Fields to prevent the spread of any... well... bodily fluids from the previous person sitting on a chair and I just kept up the practice. I know you're not worried about that with your friends but it also makes the chair a bit more comfortable."

"Oh, 'kay-'kay," the redhead said without a second thought as she sat down and wiggled her butt a bit to get comfortable in her seat. She looked across the table at the three iCarlys and innocently asked, "You're not gonna make us start Random Dancing while you're here? Are you?"

Carly, Freddie and Sam were confused by Cat's random question about Random Dancing, a regular segment on their show. Carly questioned, "What do you mean, Cat?"

The petite redhead giggled as she said, "Random Dancing. You do it on your show all the time so it's not very random. Plus, the music is almost always the same so _it's_ not random. And Sam," she pointed over to the blonde girl sitting near the foot of the table opposite her, "always starts it by pushing a button on that blue remote thingy she _always_ has in her hand during the show. Because of all that, it's not very random. It's almost like you plan to do it."

Tori spoke up from next to Cat. "I was wondering about that too. Sam ended the show when the First Lady, Mrs. Obama, was on and it looked like she was the only one who didn't know you were going to do it. So why is it called _Random_ Dancing?"

"Cat has a point," Paul agreed from the head of the table with a sly smile. He was pleased that the five teens were chatting like nothing special was going on while they were all sitting there without any clothes on. He had overheard most of the conversation between Tori and the iCarlys as they were coming down the stairs and was pleased that there wouldn't be any problems with Carly, Freddie and Sam following his house rule. (And Cat and Tori were becoming accustomed to it, too.)

Carly smiled across the table at the redheaded girl and stated, "You're right. It is planned and not very random. But we call it Random Dancing because we don't have dance steps planned out for the music. We just randomly hop around."

Cat still looked confused as she queried, "But isn't that what people do anyway when they go out to a dance club? I mean, it's not like it's country line dancing with planned out moves or anything."

The three iCarlys thought about it for a few seconds before Sam laughed out, "You got us, Cat. I guess we're gonna have to change the name."

"Oh, 'kay-'kay," Cat casually said, satisfied with the answer.

"Now that that is out of the way," Paul said as he stood up, ladled a couple of spoonfuls of Etouffe onto his rice then carried the big pot over to Carly so she could scoop some of the Cajun style dish onto her plate, "this might be a bit spicy for some of you but that's the way I learned how to make it."

"What's it called?" Freddie asked as he spooned some of the thick stew onto his plate of rice.

Tori quickly cut in and said, "It's called Etouffe. It's a Cajun dish usually made with Andouille sausage, different colored bell peppers, tomatoes, celery, onions and shrimp."

"And a lot of different, hot spices," Paul added to the singers description as he allowed Sam access to the pot. "It's like a gumbo, only spicier."

"And we picked up the shrimp from the airport today," Cat happily added as Paul brought the pot of Etouffe over to her side of the table. "Paul has a friend in Florida ship 'em up here once a month."

"Oh, Mamma likes," Sam enthused after shoveling a forkful into her mouth and savored the flavors. "But it'd be a lot better if you added some cubed up ham to it."

Paul and Tori peered in shock at the blond teen as if she'd lost her mind. Carly noticed the aghast expression and nonchalantly said, "Don't mind Sam. She thinks a meal isn't complete unless it has some kinda ham or fried chicken in it."

"And I'm usually right," Sam swiftly shot back before quickly taking another heaping forkful into her mouth.

Paul sat down after Tori served herself and quickly said, "Now, don't be shy in asking for seconds or thirds. There's plenty to go around."

"Ummm," Tori groaned in pleasure after taking a bite. "This is _soooo_ much better than when I had it the first time."

The other teens echoed the brunette singer's praise of the dish before the table went silent, except for the constant clatter of utensils on plates and Cat's sudden out of left field, totally random question, "If all the world's a stage and we are merely actors, where does the audience sit? On the moon?" Paul was kind enough to explain to the young redheaded singer that the Shakespeare quote was only a metaphor for the everyday drama that happens in everyone's life.

As Tori was starting on her second (smaller) helping she mentioned to the brunette girl opposite her, "I see you started doing **iCarly **again after returning from Italy and that you and Freddie are attending the University of Washington, now. I thought the show had permanently ended after you left for Italy a coupla years ago."

Carly finished chewing, wiped her mouth with her napkin and replied, "We _weren't_ going to start the show back up but all our fans put up such a fuss when they heard I was back in Seattle, so we decided to start doing the show again and keep it up for as long as we could. Luckily the university is allowing us to live at home and commute to the Seattle campus, so we didn't have to move the show to one of the dorms. We were also able to start pulling in some major bucks, thanks to Freddie."

"What did you do, Freddie?" the young red velvet cupcake-hue haired girl curiously begged.

"Well," the tech producer slash college student sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment from being put in the spotlight, "because Gibby got us a ton of national _exposure_ on the Jimmy Fallon Show a few years ago..."

Everyone at the table except Freddie and Cat loudly groaned at the lame pun, remembering when the forth iCarly member accidentally 'dropped his drawers' on the national late night talk show and wasn't wearing any underwear. Freddie didn't groan because he'd said it and Cat merely giggled in embarrassment at the thought.

"...Yeah-yeah," Freddie waived off the displeasure from his joke. "Anyway, because of the publicity, a lot of big named companies wanted to start advertising on our website; And I'm talking some _major_ bucks; Even bigger than the settlement we received from Daka Shoes."

"Enough money," Carly continued the explanation, "that we're able to pay for all our college costs, including Sam's, _and_ Freddie even franchised a Groovy Smoothie shop near campus."

Sam put her fork down long enough to add, "And that's pulling down enough Claude for everyone so that T-Bo could even buy a condo and move out of Freddie's apartment."

Everyone at the table enjoyed a laugh at the good fortune. As the jocularity subsided, Cat suddenly perked up and asked, "Oh! Who's T-Bo?"

Xxxxxx

When the meal was over, everyone helped clear the table and do the dishes. Well, except for Sam who was still eating directly out of the large pot of Etouffe. But she eventually had to give it up so the rest could be stored in the refrigerator and the pot washed.

Afterward, they decided to head out to the pool area for some karaoke. Paul had a great sound system set up out in the cabana and all four girls enjoyed their naked songfest while Freddie played DJ. (After a very brief tutorial from their host. Freddie, being the tech savvy person he is picked it up right away.)

What immediately struck Tori as she stepped out onto the dark patio area before the lights were turned on were the vast number of stars she could see in the night sky. There seemed to be _billions_ of them. She stopped short as she gazed up at the sight and uttered a soft, "Whoa."

Paul stopped beside her, gently draped an arm around her shoulder, motioned up to the heavens and hushed, "Magnificent, isn't it?"

"I never realized there were so many stars in the sky at night."

Paul lightly chuckled and said, "No, you don't get to see any of the celestial stars at night in a big city. That's Orion's belt..." he pointed out the three bright stars in a slight arc before he turned her a bit and pointed out another two constellations in the sky, "...and over there is the Big Dipper and Little Dipper."

Cat had stopped next to the two and gasped, "It looks just like two pots that are facing each other; Like the little one is dumping whatever's in it into the bigger one."

"That's true," Paul whispered. "And the end star of the littler one's handle is called Polaris, the North Star. If you can find that star you'll always know which way is north."

"That's good to know if I'm ever lost," Tori laughed. For some reason, she didn't feel uncomfortable with Paul's arm around her bare shoulders. The intimacy felt natural, like it was almost meant to be.

Unfortunately she was brought out of her thoughts when Cat replied, "But if you're lost, can't you get directions from a gas station or a policeman?"

"Anyway," Paul said as he took his arm from around Tori's shoulder then turned the patio lights on, "that's another reason why I moved out here; To be able to see the stars in the sky at night."

Paul disappeared into the house while Cat was singing but reemerged a few minutes later with computer printer pics of both Shelby Marx and Tori Vega. The brunette songstress still denied the Cage Fighting Championship's fighter looked anything like her even with the photographic proof right in front of her.

Freddie glanced a few times between the pic of Shelby in his hand and Tori standing beside him before he sarcastically said, "Oh, I see the difference. Shelby parts her hair on the side while you part yours down the middle, and your hair has more volume to it; Her's is flatter and sleeker. Oh, and Shelby prefers to wear crop tops, showing off her taut abs while you normally prefer to cover up."

Tori snatched the photo from Freddie, saw what he had noticed and smiled. She gleefully said, "See! I don't look anything like her!"

That drew a laugh from everyone and the karaoke fun continued.

Finally the festivities wound down and everyone headed in to catch some well-needed sleep. Paul pulled Cat and Tori aside before they entered the house and asked, "Did you enjoy yourselves tonight?"

"That was such a blast," Cat enthused in her normal happy manner, squealing in delight.

Tori echoed with a joy filled laugh, "That _was_ a lot of fun."

"And," Paul slyly begged with a smirk, "did you even think about the fact that you spent the last couple of hours around other teens without any clothes on?"

"Oh my Gawd!" Cat shrieked in sudden realization as she shot a quick glance down at her naked body. "I forgot all about it!"

Tori wryly chuckled, "I didn't think about it either. I guess I'm getting used to the Naturist lifestyle."

"That's good," Paul said as he opened the door to allow the two girls to enter the house. "Well, good night. I'll see you in the morning." With that said he walked down the hallway, entered his first floor bedroom and closed the door.

"Good night!" Cat hollered as the two girls watched the bedroom door close before walking to the foot of the stairway. She turned to Tori and said, "I'm really glad Paul is nice. I wonder what he'll have for us to do tomorrow?"

"I don't know," the brunette songstress lightly laughed at her friend's curiosity as she, too, thanked the heavens for meeting the slightly older, but very nice guy who was giving them an opportunity to relax and recuperate for a few weeks after the grueling tours they'd both just experienced. "But I'm tired right now so let's just get some sleep and let tomorrow be what it may."

"'Kay-'kay," the redhead happily chimed as the two girls headed off to the second floor bedrooms.

When she reached her room, Tori suddenly remembered that she hadn't brought any of her normal sleepwear along and pondered what she would wear to bed.

"_What-the-hey,_" the brunette thought and nonchalantly shrugged before she slipped nakedly under the covers of the queen-sized bed and snuggled in to the comfortable sheets and mattress. "_I haven't been wearing any clothes for the last few hours. Why should I worry about wearing anything in bed?_"

Tori Vega quickly fell asleep after a day of traveling and all the excitement of meeting up with old and new friends.


	5. Horses and Fishies

Disclaimer: I don't own the copyrights to the shows **iCarly** and **Victorious**, Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon do. I just used the characters for my own enjoyment... And I do enjoy writing about the gang. I also don't own the rights to anything that is a registered/copyrighted phrase or brand name, or any of the music used in this story. But that goes without saying.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 5

Day 2: Horses and Fishies

Xxxxxx

Cat Valentine eagerly bounced down the stairs early the next morning, looking forward to a brand new day like she did every morning. She was slightly disappointed when she reached the kitchen only to find the first floor of the house absent of any signs of life. But that didn't deter the bubbly redheaded singer. She knew she was an early riser who always woke up before everyone else so it wasn't too surprising that she was the first one up. (There was also the fact that she'd slept in the nude and didn't have to search for or decide on what she was going to wear since the house, as well as the entire property, was designated a Clothing Free Zone. That only meant she didn't have to spend an additional twenty or thirty minutes picking out her wardrobe for the day and getting dressed.)

Cat wasn't sure what Paul Bowman, their host and owner of the ranch she and her friends were staying at, had planned for breakfast so the petite redhead noisily flitted about the kitchen looking for something to eat. She squealed in delight when she found a brand new box of her favorite cereal, Coco Puffs©. After opening and slamming shut a few more cabinets and drawers to find a bowl and spoon, plus the refrigerator door for the milk, Cat sat down and dug in to a big bowl of her favorite breakfast.

She was broken out of her reverie as Paul came into the kitchen and greeted her, "Good morning Cat. Did you sleep well?"

"Aaaar mu-mph..." the redhead started with her mouth full but had to wait to answer until she finished chewing her cereal.

After a few more seconds of crunching, Cat swallowed and said, "I slept great except when a rooster started to crow and woke me up." She giggled before adding, "But I liked waking up like that. I may just have to get an alarm clock that crows."

Paul laughed along with the redhead and said, "I'm not sure if they make them but it'd be an interesting way to wake up each morning."

Cat held out her bowl of cereal and asked, "Do you like Coco Puffs too? Is that why you have a box of 'em?"

"No, no," Paul chuckled as he got a couple of large frying pans out of one of the lower cabinets and placed them on the stove top. "I found a picture of you on the web eating them so I bought the box just for you. I like a good, hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs." Paul moved over to the refrigerator and started to get out the eggs, bacon, butter and a few other things to prepare breakfast for himself and the others.

A few minutes later, Freddie and Carly walked into the kitchen looking as fresh as the proverbial daisy, if not a bit flushed. The huge smiles on their faces told Cat that they'd probably been wrestling between the sheets before coming downstairs. (Cat was fairly sure she'd heard a few sensual grunts and moans coming from their bedroom as she passed their room and descended the staircase.)

Tori was the next to arrive a minute after the couple. Sam finally showed up five minutes after Tori, looking tired while scratching her head and yawning.

"How did you all sleep?" Paul asked as he cracked a few eggs in the pan.

Sam immediately complained while shooting a nasty glare at the perky redheaded girl, _"Somebody_ was making a lotta noise down here and woke me up."

"Oh," Cat sat up as she realized that she was probably the one who was making all the noise. "I guess that woulda been me. I was searching for a bowl and spoon for my cereal." She held out the half eaten bowl of round brown 'somethings' in a chocolatey liquid and happily yelled, "I'm cuckoo for Coco Puffs! Cuckoo for Coco Puffs!"

"You're cuckoo alright," Sam angrily huffed as she heavily plopped down in a chair at the kitchen table, laid her head on folded arms and tried to go back to sleep.

Just as she was dozing off, the blonde's nose suddenly twitched once, then twice more. Sam immediately sat up and asked, "Do I smell bacon cooking?"

The kitchen became a flurry of activity as various cereals were poured, melon and other assorted fruit were pealed and sliced, bread was toasted and bacon, eggs, bacon, pancakes and bacon were griddled. (One guess who ate the majority of the bacon.)

While the meal was cooking, Cat wondered aloud, "If nothing sticks to Teflon, how do they make the Teflon stick to the pan?"

As the breakfast dishes were being cleaned, Carly asked their host, "So what's on the agenda for today?"

"That's entirely up to you," Paul answered as he put the frying pans away then turned to the five teens. "It's your vacation so whatever you want to do is alright with me. I was thinking we'd head out to the stables and you could all ride the horses. Do any of you know how to ride?"

Four of the teens shook their head in the negative but Cat's hand swiftly shot up and she happily said, "I don't, but I rode a big bunny once. It was fun!"

Freddie curiously queried, "A big... _bunny?"_

Tori quickly clarified, "We went to a S and M joint called the Gorilla Club one time so I could learn how to take chances for, you know, a part in a movie. They had swinging balls of pain you had to pass between and also a guy in a gorilla costume you had to get by to grab a big banana plushy. The bunny Cat is referring to was actually a mechanical bull dressed up like a big bunny. It had a rabbit's face and ears and it shot _huge_ flames out of its nostrils."

"And she wasn't thrown off?" Sam indignantly begged, having watched video of professional bull riders getting tossed off mechanical bulls while they practiced for the real thing. (It was one of Sam's many strange hobbies, watching web videos of people getting hurt.)

"No," Tori chuckled at the remembrance of that night. "And Cat almost danced between the forty pound balls of pain to beat that challenge too."

Cat joyously cheered, holding up three fingers and tittering like a schoolgirl, "I got all three rings."

"But none of you have ridden a real horse before?" Paul asked, trying to get the conversation back on track. When he received a negative answer from the teens he said, "Well, I suggest you all get dressed in jeans, t-shirts and sturdy shoes and we'll all meet back here, then head out to the stables."

They all agreed and started heading to their rooms to get dressed. It was only then that Tori realized that their host had also been naked throughout breakfast. She leaned over and confided to Carly and Freddie, "I didn't even notice that Paul wasn't wearing any clothes this morning."

"So you're getting used to being around naked people?" Carly jokingly asked.

"I guess so," Tori laughed along with her friend. She suddenly sobered and asked, "But... Why should we get dressed to ride the horses? Don't some people ride naked?"

"I can only guess why," Freddie answered as they ascended the stairs to the second floor. "I don't think you'd like the butt blisters you'll get if you don't wear pants, at least. Plus, we don't know where the horses are stabled so we might be visible to other people. Paul might want us to be properly dressed in case we're seen."

Tori thought about that as she entered her room and dug through her bag to pull out the clothes she would need for the excursion. She thought to herself, "_Freddie's probably right. Leather saddles and soft bare butts would definitely equal blisters... Although I'm getting used to being seen by people without any clothes on._"

Xxxxxx

When they all met back up in the kitchen, Paul held out a set of car keys to Cat and Sam and asked, "Do either of you two know how to drive a stick shift?"

"Mamma does," Sam arrogantly answered, snatched the keys out of the rancher's grasp then nonchalantly tossed them into the air only to catch them again in one hand.

"Um, not really," Cat timidly answered.

Paul benevolently queried, "Would you like to learn?"

Cat's face practically lit up and she begged, "Can I?"

"Of course you can," Paul chuckled. He produced another set of keys from his pocket and jested, "If you can ride a bucking bunny then you should be able to drive a stick shift. Let's go."

Paul led them out a side door from the kitchen into the attached garage where the teens saw two almost identical Jeeps parked. The only differences between the two was the color, one was painted red and the other blue, and that the red Jeep was an open top convertible. He pointed to the hard top and said, "All those who don't want to watch Cat learn how to drive a stick shift, get in the blue Jeep and Sam will drive. The stables are about a half mile further up in the canyon. Cat and I will be along shortly."

The three iCarlys got into the blue Jeep and Sam fired it up.

Tori was torn between wanting to see the horses and stables right away and supporting her friend. Of course her concern for Cat won out and she got into the back seat of the red Jeep.

As Sam, Freddie and Carly drove off up the canyon, Paul started to give the two girls very precise instruction on how to operate a vehicle with a manual transmission. After stalling the Jeep twice, Cat finally got the hang of using a clutch and the red Jeep slowly made its way up the canyon. (Paul even explained how to drop the vehicle into 4-wheel drive, but it wasn't needed on the fairly level dirt road.)

As the red Jeep pulled up next to the blue vehicle parked in front of a small one-story building, the stables that had a wood rail fence enclosing a dirt area on one side of it, Tori laughed and said, "That looked easy." (There was also a larger building just behind the stables that appeared to be a barn.)

"It is, once you get the hang of it," Paul replied as he got out of the Jeep and then extended a hand to help Tori out of the cramped back seat area. "And that means _you_ are driving us home."

Tori nervously muttered to herself, "Me and my big mouth," but nonetheless followed Paul and a giddy redhead into the paddock. (The fenced in dirt area.)

They found the three teens from iCarly standing in front of one of the four stalls inside the stables petting a golden palomino kept there. Well, Sam and Freddie were petting and stroking the horse. Carly would timidly try to get close to the very large animal, but whenever she did she'd swiftly dart away when the horse nodded its head or simply shifted in its stance a bit. Obviously the brunette was too frightened and intimidated to be near the steed. Sam ignored her girl friend's reaction paying more attention to the horse, but Freddie turned around to comfort his girlfriend and tried to get her to move nearer while reassuring her that what the horse was doing was perfectly normal and that it wasn't trying to hurt her.

"I see you've met Lady," Paul said as he walked over to the stall and fully slide open the door, then swung the inside gate open, allowing the animal to gently walk out into the paddock and up to its owner.

"She's gorgeous," Sam enthused as she petted and stroked the huge palomino's neck.

"But she's so big," Carly shrieked and hid behind her boyfriend. She warily peeked around Freddie's shoulder and stated, "I didn't know horses got to be so large. When my brother Spencer used to take us to the county fair they had horse rides, and those horses weren't even _half_ this size."

"You mean the pony ride," Freddie clarified with a knowing nod, remembering when they used to go to the fair together and Carly was skittish even back then to be near the pint-sized horses.

Sam quipped, "At least it's not a goat."

Carly turned on her friend and vehemently shouted, "Sam! We decided that we'd never talk about what the goat did!"

"Well you won't have to worry about Lady or _any_ of my horses intentionally hurting you," Paul tried to calm the obviously irate brunette by quickly changing the subject as he took a small piece of carrot out of his pocket and fed it to the horse. "They're all as gentle as a kitten and I have the local Boy's and Girl's Club come out a few times each year to ride them. There hasn't been a single incidence where the hyperactive kids have spooked the horses."

"Oh, okay," Carly tentatively said as she cautiously inched forward toward the docile creature. Paul gave her a piece of carrot and showed her how to feed it to Lady with a close-fingered, flat hand so the horse wouldn't think her fingers were another piece of food. Lady delicately nibbled the carrot out of Carly's hand, then nuzzled its nose against her shoulder.

The brunette web host immediately relaxed and took to the animal, stroking and rubbing its long muscular neck. She gaily laughed, "I guess they're not as terrifying as I thought."

"No, but you do need to remember one thing," Paul said as he started for the end stall and slid the door open to walk in. The five teens followed as he continued, "Lady weighs almost thirteen hundred pounds. That's close to double all of your weights combined so don't let her accidentally step on your foot."

Paul exited through another sliding door and gate at the back of the stall and opened a door along the walkway opposite the four stalls. He turned to the teens and said, "This is called the tack room, it's where I keep all the saddles and such."

Sam tried to make a joke, saying, "I don't think it looks very tacky." Everyone else groaned at the blonde's bad pun.

"No Sam," Freddie corrected his blonde friend. "In this case, tack is short for tackle: The equipment used to saddle a horse. I think the term originated from the nautical term for the equipment used on a ship, like in block and tackle."

"Is there anything you don't know about, Nub?" Sam shot back in annoyance as she punched him not so gently on the arm.

"Sam!" Carly harshly chided her blonde friend. "Remember, _no_ hitting the _boyfriend."_

"Yeah well, he still irritates me sometimes," Sam mumbled back in a bit of an apology. At least for her.

"Anyway," Paul said, gathering their attention and trying to get things back on track. "If you all start bringing the saddles and halters out into the paddock I'll bring in the other horses from the pasture."

Paul disappeared through the stall and the five teens warily peered at all of the leather saddles, straps and harnesses in front of them. Freddie was the first to move as he picked up a saddle with a thick square cottony appearing pad on top of it and said, "Well, let's get started."

Sam was able to pick up and carry one of the other saddles but the other three nineteen year old girls couldn't budge the heavy leather apparatus by themselves. Tori and Cat finally joined forces and managed to wrangle one of the forty or fifty pound Western style saddles out into the paddock while Carly contented herself by grabbing as many halters and bits as she could carry. Sam and Freddie brought the last two of the five total saddles from the tack room out to the paddock.

Paul then showed them how to saddle a horse, explaining the need for the pad, the bit, the halter and reins and such and how to position and secure them properly.

Still with a little trepidation, Carly was boosted onto Lady's saddle. Then everyone was shown how to hold and use the reins and stirrups to control the horse. When all of the teens were somewhat okay with their knowledge of riding, they were let loose. Carly was still a little unsure of the whole situation but she gradually got used to riding and had fun slowly trotting along side Freddie on his horse while the other four teens quickly caught on and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

After an hour, Paul waved them all back into the paddock. All five teens had trouble dismounting, being a tad sore in the legs and butt from the constant bouncing and jostling around. Tori spoke up and thanked Paul and Freddie for having her dress before riding. She could only imagine how sore her bottom would've been if she hadn't been wearing a pair of jeans to offset the smooth but extremely solid saddle.

The saddles and other tack were put away and the horses were brushed and rubbed down, then fed and watered.

Freddie drove the blue Jeep back to the house while Tori struggled with the stick shift of the red Jeep. The brunette singer would constantly release the clutch too fast, stalling the engine. With a somewhat exasperated growl, Cat finally got fed up after five minutes and the vehicle only gaining one hundred feet. She pushed her friend into the back seat of the Jeep and took over, smoothly driving them back, not having any trouble whatsoever using the stick. (Although the redhead did loudly squeal in delight and shouted "Bunny!" when a rabbit darted across the road in front of them along the way.)

When they were all back in the kitchen getting lunch, Tori said, "Okay Paul, the horses were fun but why did you show Cat and me how to drive a stick shift?"

"That's simple to explain," Paul said as he flipped the grilled cheese sandwiches he was preparing on the stove top (with a little thinly sliced, turkey breast luncheon meat in them to make them all the more tasty.) "If you know how to drive a stick shift, then you're not going to be stuck here at the house; You can go anywhere. There are a lot of interesting sights to see in the area and you shouldn't sequester yourself to just the canyon."

Xxxxxx

The **iCarly** trio decided to explore the town of Montrose after lunch. They weren't too concerned about being recognized by any of their fans, they'd learned to live with that little inconvenience over the six years since starting the web show. (The only time they'd had any trouble was the one year they'd attended Webicon when it was held in Seattle. There, the fan-girls tried to molest Freddie while the fan-boy hit on Carly and Sam. That is until Sam put a couple of them in their place.)

Cat and Tori decided to take a little naked walk around the ranch. Once outside, they took a quick look-see at the garden where they found ten newly planted tomato plants, a few things that were labeled as pepper plants, a nice patch of green beans and two rows of corn stalks, among other plants that they couldn't identify even though the garden was weed-free and the rows were well marked.

Tori suddenly had a strange feeling as if something was off and quickly glanced around the canyon before she realized what was wrong. She whispered, "It's so quiet out here. Back in Hollywood, you can usually hear cars driving down the street or someone playing music or talking at all hours of the day and night. This is just so different."

Cat perked up at her friend's words, looked around and said, "It certainly is. It's almost as if I was deaf."

The brunette took in the solitude for a few seconds more before she said, "I could really get used to this."

Without responding, Cat suddenly walked away from the fenced in area, being drawn by an outcropping of trees. Curious, Tori followed.

"Wow!" Cat marveled when she came upon a steep ditch with a small creek running in it amidst the small grove of trees. "Look at this, Tori!"

"Yeah, Cat," the taller of the two girls laughed at the redhead's excitement over something as common as a creek. Tori had a sudden brain storm and said while pointing to the cliffs around them, "You know, that small stream probably carved out this _whole_ canyon way back when."

"Really?" the redhead gasped as she peered up at the thousand foot high walls on both sides of the canyon. "Are you saying this little trickle of water cut through all those rocks and stuff making this canyon?" She pointed to the thousand foot high, rocky side of the canyon walls that were spotted with scrub pine.

"That's right. But it happened over millions of years and the creek was a lot bigger some of the time. That's just the way nature works... At least according to one of the science classes I had before transferring to Hollywood Arts."

"Whoa," Cat softly mewed in deep contemplation as she gazed back at the creek. Suddenly her face lit up as she pointed at the gently moving water and yelled, "Hey! Look at all the little fishies!"

Tori strained to see what had caught her friend's attention. Looking beneath the surface of the clear, gently flowing water, she finally noticed dozens of one or two inch long things swimming around in the meandering stream. She wondered aloud, "I wonder what kind of fish they are?"

Cat stepped out of her flip flops and started down the sloping bank as she joyfully hollered, "I'm gonna catch one and show it to Paul so he can tell us."

Of course the minnows scattered just as soon as the redheaded singer jumped into the creek and Cat couldn't get anywhere close to them after that. Tori watched her friend splash and giggle for a few minutes as Cat nakedly chased her elusive prey before she kicked off her own sandals and waded in to see if she could do any better.

"Whoa, that's cold!" Tori shouted as her bare foot hit the water. She peered up stream and pondered aloud, "I wonder where this creek starts?" She could see some snow-capped mountains in the distance and could only guess that the stream started somewhere up there and that the creek water had once been snow.

Cat finally gave up her quest to capture one of the wily, elusive 'fishies' after twenty minute. (Tori had stopped long before but thoroughly enjoyed the knee-deep experience.)

After donning their footwear, the two naked intrepid girls decided to move further up stream. As they walked, they began to notice that a few of the bushes and smaller trees had been cut a little more than a foot or so above the ground and were missing. They discovered them a short distance up stream where the saplings and such were actually _in_ the creek creating a small dam that was only partially complete. Curiously, the shrubs and trees were neatly stacked across the waterway and shored up with mud and fist-sized stones.

"That's strange," Tori observed as she gazed around them to see if anyone or anything was close by. "I wonder if Paul or someone else is damming up the creek for some reason?"

"We can only ask," Cat ventured with a shrug before she started upstream again.

Eventually it started to get dark where the two girls were, the Sun not being able to cast its rays into the deep canyon, so Tori and Cat headed back to the house. They would occasionally pause when they happened upon a small herd of six or eight deer, or spotted a squirrel or rabbit scurrying along, but they finally made it back to the house before the Sun fully set. Of course Cat's high-pitched squeal of delight whenever they saw any of the animals scared the wildlife off.

Xxxxxx

Paul manned the barbeque grill as the two singers and three web celebs sat around one of the patio tables and told him everything they'd discovered during their hike and trip into town.

Paul informed Cat and Tori that the 'fishies' they'd seen were actually native trout, but that they wouldn't grow to full size since the creek would normally dry up later in the hot summer months, and that the raccoons and other animals in the area would take care of them. Cat didn't understand until Freddie told her that Paul had meant that the wild animals would _eat_ the small trout; That it was all just a part of nature. The redhead frowned at the news but was immediately distracted and perked back up when Tori started describing the makeshift dam they'd found.

Paul, on the other hand, didn't like hearing about the new obstruction partially blocking the creek. He told the teens that it was probably a beaver that had wandered down stream and he would have to remove it.

"Why?" Tori questioned before her redheaded friend could get upset again over the demise of a 'cute furry creature'. "Aren't beavers a part of nature here in the canyon?"

"They are," Paul answered as he flipped the pieces of chicken roasting on the grill, then closed the lid to let them cook a little longer. He turned to the teens and said, "But the creek needs to be kept clear of obstructions while it's running. People rely on it for irrigating their fields." He saw Cat frowning at the news and quickly added, "I'm only going to trap it in a cage and move it back to the high country where it can live without bothering anyone."

That placated the redheaded singer and dinner was soon ready to be serve.


	6. Day Three

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my twisted but slightly creative mind.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 6

Day Three

Xxxxxx

The next morning started just like the previous day. Cat was the first to arise, again being woken up by the nearby rooster since she kept her window open for the fresh air, but made less noise then the previous morning since she now knew where the bowls and spoons were kept for her morning breakfast. Sam was the next to show up, immediately pulling a large skillet from the cupboard and started to fry up as much bacon as it would hold.

Eventually everyone else arrived in the kitchen and breakfast was quickly prepared and devoured. As they all helped clean up, Paul said, "You're all going to be on your own today. I have something to do in town."

"Oh really?" Tori begged out of curiosity as she brought the last of the dishes over to the sink. "What'cha got going on?"

"I help out the schools on occasion by driving a school bus whenever they have a field trip or need a substitute driver," Paul said as he wiped his hands with a towel, then headed for the kitchen door to walk to his bedroom to get dressed. "Today I'm driving a group of fourth graders up to the Ridgway Reservoir for a nature outing where they'll learn about the local birds, animals and plant life."

Tori perked up and asked, "That's sounds interesting. Do you mind if I tag along?"

"Me too!" Cat quickly yelled, raising her hand like she was volunteering.

"Well," Paul stopped to consider it for a moment before he answered, "I suppose it would be okay. But you'll have to drive yourselves up there. You're not registered as either a student or a volunteer supervisor with the school district so you're not allowed on the bus." He turned to the **iCarly** gang and asked, "Would any of you like to come, too?"

"Nah," Sam waved off the idea as she took a bite of the last piece of bacon. "Mama just wants to chill-ax during her vacation. It's sounds like there's gonna be a lotta walking around and learning involved and I can only stand so much of that when I'm going to college."

Carly giggled at her blonde friend's laid back attitude and said, "No, Freddie and I were thinking of looking around the town again today, if you don't mind."

"I don't mind," Paul said, then turned back to the two singers. "Tori, you and Cat can take the SUV. It has a yearly sticker on the window to get you into the park. Just set the GPS unit to take you to the Dallas Creek Campground."

"'Kay 'kay," Cat said as she raced out of the kitchen toward the front door and the sports utility vehicle beyond.

"Cat!" Tori quickly called out to her friend. When the redhead timidly peeked around the door frame back into the kitchen, the brunette smiled and asked, "Don't you think we should put some _clothes_ on before we go out and meet a bunch of kids?"

The redhead glanced down at her naked body and gasped, "Oh my God, I forgot!" She immediately dashed up the stairs to her bedroom.

The five others had a good laugh at the redheaded singer's forgetfulness.

Xxxxxx

The GPS unit was easy enough to operate and the automatic transmission on the SUV meant that the two girls didn't have to worry about operating a stick shift. And since the reservoir was only twenty miles to the south of Montrose they decided to alternate who drove; That Cat would drive to the reservoir and Tori would drive them back home. (Tori had finally passed her driver's test during her senior year of high school so she was a licensed driver now.)

The two teen pop sensations thought they knew their audience. Both Tori and Cat mainly targeted the older teen crowd and that's what they normally saw at their concerts. Neither thought that a group of fourth graders, a bunch of preteen, nine year olds would've heard of their music.

They were wrong.

The minute Cat and Tori stepped out of the SUV, the whole group of preteens started going crazy, yelling and screaming and rushing over to mob the two singers. Even the eight or nine adults who were there to help supervise the kids acted like fans, tho not as fanatical. (Paul later informed Tori and Cat that the adults supervisors were actually parents who had children in school so they would've also heard and love the two musician's tunes.)

Cat noticed the return of the wistful, longing look that occasionally showed through his otherwise happy countenance whenever Paul looked at Tori as the two pop sensations gave out autographs and posed for pictures. The redhead wanted to ask their host about it but was distracted by the fanatical children.

Finally, the school kids settled down after fifteen minutes and the nature lessons actually started.

Cat and Tori tried to stay in the background letting the teachers get on with the lesson, but most of the students paid more attention to the two celebrities than to what the teachers were talking about.

Exasperated with the situation, one of the teachers finally asked the two singers to leave so the outing wouldn't be disrupted any further. Paul told Cat and Tori that there were three other recreation areas for the reservoir they could visit, or they could check out the nearby town of Ridgway if they liked.

The two teen singers opted to check out the small town and found some great buys on western wear and jewelry; enough that they'd eventually need to each buy a suitcase for the trip back to Los Angeles. They even found a quaint restaurant to have lunch at before heading back to the ranch.

They were a bit surprised that the townsfolk warmly greeted them as just a couple of tourist but realized it was only because the town's children were all in school at the time while their parents were at work, and that the much older adults they were meeting probably hadn't heard their music before or didn't recognize them.

On the scenic drive back, Cat questioned her friend, "Have you noticed the way Paul sometimes looks at you?"

"No," the brunette warily answered as she drove the SUV along highway 550 back toward Montrose. "What's he doing when he looks at me?"

"Well, it isn't often," Cat said, wistfully peering out the passenger side window at the Uncompahgre River that the highway generally paralleled, "but sometimes it seems like he's remembering something about you whenever he's watching."

"I don't see how that's possible," Tori said, shaking her head in deep thought, trying to remember if she'd ever come across the ginger-headed man before. "I mean, I'm pretty sure we haven't met before this week so he probably isn't thinking about me." Curious, she asked, "When have you noticed him looking at me like that?"

"Oh, at the airport when we first arrived in Montrose and today after we got to the lake, when the kids were bugging us for pictures and autographs."

"Well, I'm sure it's nothing to be concerned about," Tori nervously waived it off as she went back to paying closer attention to the road than whatever whim her friend was currently expounding on.

"I don't know," Cat cautiously said as she turned back to look at her friend. "I think it means something but I can't imagine what." The redhead suddenly perked up when she saw a large herd of deer beyond her friend, behind a high fence on the west side of the road. (The extremely tall fence had obviously been erected to prevent the animals from crossing that stretch of highway and causing an accident.) Cat practically screamed in excitement, "Oh look! Deer!"

Tori could only chuckle at her friend's enthusiasm. In the couple of days they'd been in Colorado, they'd seen more deer than there are stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, so seeing a herd of any size out in the countryside didn't surprise her at all. Heck, there was practically an entire zoo living in the canyon with all the deer, coyotes, rabbits, squirrels, foxes, prairie dogs, raccoons, beaver and skunks living there. (Not to mention all of the different types of birds in the area.) Paul had even said they might catch a glimpse of some wild turkeys during the spring and fall, or a bobcat or mountain lion if they came back out during the winter.

When Tori and Cat saw a live skunk roaming around the garden the previous evening, around dusk, Paul had grabbed a .22 rifle off the gun rack on the wall and shot it. He later explained, when Cat threw a fit for him killing such a beautiful animal, that skunks were mainly scavengers that caused more damage than they did good. That, and the sickening stench from the dead animal as Paul tightly wrapped it up in a couple of plastic grocery bags and tossed it in the trash can, placated the redhead.

Instead of directly heading back to the ranch, Tori and Cat stopped in town to buy a few magazines they could read while sitting out by the pool. Tori also wanted to pick up a notebook, something she'd forgot to bring along, to start writing lyrics for new songs to record. She'd had a few ideas for some new songs during the short time at the ranch and wanted to get the words down on paper before she forgot them.

The two girls were slightly stunned as they walked through the store and were simply greeted with a smile and a wave, or a 'hi' from the sales people and other customers in the store. Normally in Los Angeles, people didn't do that merely keeping to themselves and not even acknowledging that others were passing by them. It's somewhat of a defense mechanism in case you accidentally ran into one of the many crazy people roaming the streets of L.A.. But here in Montrose everyone seemed to be friendly and said hello to anyone they met, friend or not.

On a dare from the redhead, the two singers stripped out of their clothes after they got back into the vehicle to head back to the ranch. As Cat drove the SUV into the canyon, they saw something extremely small and furry race across the gravel road. She curiously asked, "What was that?"

Tori chuckled as she answered, "I'm not sure, but I think it was a mouse."

"_A mouse_!" the redhead loudly squeal in fright, letting go of the steering wheel and curling up in a ball as best she could in the driver's seat against the door.

"Cat!" Tori anxiously yelled as she quickly leaned over and grabbed the steering wheel, preventing them from possibly going off the narrow road and crashing. Luckily Tori had reacted in time and the lack of Cat's foot pressing on the gas pedal slowed the vehicle considerably before Tori was able to reach over with her bare foot and apply the brake. When the SUV came to a stop, Tori shifted the gear lever into park. She angrily turned on her friend and hollered, "What were you thinking, letting go of the steering wheel like that?"

"But it was a _mouse,"_ the redhead timidly squeaked.

"Yeah, so? There are bound to be mice out here. We're out in the country. There's plenty for them to eat out here so there's probably plenty of mice around."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cat defensively yelled.

Tori quickly cooled down from her anger at Cat abandoning her driving and laughed, "I'm just saying that I'm surprised we haven't seen any mice before since this is the ideal place for them to live."

"Oh," Cat said, slightly chagrined as she properly settled into her seat again. "I suppose you're right. It's just that I've never seen a mouse before."

"Well, you've seen one now. Are you okay to drive the rest of the way to the ranch?"

"Of course," Cat giggled as she sat back up in her seat and shifted the gear lever back into drive. "Why do you ask?"

Tori smiled at her friend's nonchalant attitude as she said, "Oh, no reason." She had seen Cat's mood swings like this before: One second she'd be upset or scared and the next Cat would be perfectly fine. She'd just have to forget it happened.

That was just one example of the slightly wacky, off-kilter world of Cat Valentine.

Xxxxxx

After they had arrived back at the secluded ranch and put their newly purchased items away, Cat and Tori head out to the pool where they found the iCarly trio relaxing. Carly and Freddie were sharing one chaise lounge quietly cuddling while Sam was sprawled out on another, her limbs splayed out at awkward angles, fast asleep with a few empty Fat Cake wrappers scattered around the chair.

Not wanting to wake or disturb the trio, Tori made her way over to the cabana, grabbed a towel and bottle of sunscreen and found an out-of-the-way lounge to sit down on.

Cat had followed her and grabbed a towel but the redhead had other plans. She tossed the towel onto the chaise next to Tori's, then with a gleeful shout of "Cannonball!", jumped into the pool for a swim.

Luckily, no one got splashed but it did rouse the happy couple. Carly rose up slightly to see what was going on and laughed as she watched the redhead nakedly splash around in the pool. She called over to Tori and asked, "How did the nature lesson turn out?"

As the brunette singer slathered the protective sunscreen on her body, she answered, "It didn't. We were asked to leave shortly after we got there."

Cat, having heard the exchange, swam over to the side of the pool, leaned on the edge on crossed arms and said, "Yeah. All of the kids were more interested in us then they were in the lesson so we left and went into Ridgway to look around. We bought some clothes and had lunch at a cute little diner before coming back." With that said, the redhead pushed off from the side of the pool and started to splash around some more.

Tori sat back in her chair and started writing. She was trying to come up with a rhyming word for 'orange' (she knew it was impossible but tried anyway, the previous line was just too good to change) when she caught movement across the pool near the house. Paul had returned after finishing the school trip and was standing next to the patio doors, watching her. Tori didn't raise her head to look directly at him but she did covertly notice the look in his eyes.

It was one of longing or nostalgia, just like Cat had mentioned on the ride back to town from Ridgway.

She didn't know why but Tori got the impression that he was remembering a past experience and it had something to do with her.

Tori again wracked her brain, trying to think if they had met before but she was positive they hadn't. So why the wistful expression? Had she and Paul attended elementary school or Sherwood High at the same time? She couldn't remember any Bowmans attending any of the schools she'd gone to so that couldn't be it. (Especially since Paul would've been four grades ahead of her, so they couldn't have met at Sherwood, a four year high school. He would've graduated before she was a freshman.) Did Paul like her? Was that the reason he invited her out to Colorado? Had he seen her on the high school's web site, **The ,** and wanted to get to know her? Could her initial apprehension that he might be a stalker actually be true? But he'd also invited Cat, Jade and the iCarly gang. Why would Paul invite the others if he only wanted to hit on her?

Cat had noticed the look, too, but Tori trusted her friend's intuition about someone's personality.

Hundreds of different scenarios raced through Tori's mind each more ridicules then the last as she blankly stared at the now forgotten lyrics she had been writing. She was so deep in thought she didn't even notice someone walking up to her.

"What'cha working on?"

Tori jolted out of her reverie and looked up, seeing Paul stand over her with a sly but endearing smile on his face. "Oh! You scared me," the brunette singer gasped, placing a hand between her bare breasts to try to calm her rapidly beating heart.

"I'm sorry," the buff red-haired guy softly said as he sat down on the side of her lounge chair facing her. He moved to place a comforting hand on her thigh but quickly retracted it, his face growing a bit red in embarrassment. Instead, he pointed to the notebook in her lap and asked, "Are you working on a new song?" His usual kind endearing smile had returned.

"Yeah," Tori nervously laughed. She was nervous because of his proximity, but mostly from the different scenarios that'd just flitted through her mind a few moments prior. Deciding to play a little bit with her host she smirked and begged, "You wouldn't happen to know a word that rhymes with orange, would ya?"

"I'm afraid not," Paul chuckled before he settled down and became serious. "But I had planned on talking to you at some point about your first album."

"What about it?"

"Well, it's just something I notice about your music. Quite a few of the songs on the album have almost the exact same drum and bass line. Except for the lead guitar or piano, the music could almost be interchangeable."

Tori had to think about that for a moment before she realized he was right. Mason Thornesmith had wanted to save some money creating her first album so he had used synthesized music to back her up instead of an actual band. It sounded almost as good as real musicians playing but Mason had André Harris, one of her friends from Hollywood Arts, use the same drum and bass line for at least half the songs on the album.

"You're right," Tori ceded with a chuckle. She explained the situation to Paul and they both laughed at the fact that her entire first album was made using only one musician: André.

As their laughter subsided, Tori's curiosity won over her and she asked, "Why do you sometimes watch me the way you do?" She could see he was going to deny it so she quickly added, "I saw it just before you came over here and Cat mentioned she'd seen it a coupla times. You look like you're reliving a memory between us, but I know we've never met before."

Paul let out a shaky but resigned breath before he stood up and said, "I guess it's time to tell you the whole story. Follow me."

Paul led Tori into the house and directly to his bedroom door. Before opening it, he turned to her and said, "I _have_ been looking at you strangely, but only because you remind me so much of my former fiancée."

Paul opened the door and stepped in. Tori faltered at the door for a second, remembering his warning on the first day to not enter, before he gently took her hand and led her in.

Tori immediately saw the room was homey and had that lived in appearance, (the bed wasn't made and there were a few clothes scattered around, but he was a bachelor so Tori let it slide) but what really caught her eye were all the framed pictures and posters on the walls. Most were of a band she'd never heard of but the rest of the pictures were of a young woman who bore a striking resemblance to herself. Tori had to look closely, but she finely saw that the only differences between her and the woman was the other had a small mole just below her neck on her upper chest, the cheekbones weren't nearly as prominent and the eyes were a different color. They were a shimmering, steely gray instead of Tori's dark brown.

"Oh my Gawd," Tori gasped in shock. "Who is she? I mean besides your former fiancée. And why is she a former... you know?"

"Okay," Paul sighed and moved over to one of the large framed posters. It was for a band called **Sheep Without Fences**. He pointed first to the lead singer, a woman, and then to the drummer as he explained, "My mom and dad started a band just after finishing college but it didn't catch on. But because they made a few contacts when the band played their first few gigs, they were able to get other jobs in the industry. Mom worked the stage lighting and dabbled with lyrics while dad was a wizard on the audio mixing board so both were in high demand. I happened along shortly after they started their new jobs so I practically grew up in the music industry."

Paul moved over and gently stroked one of the pictures of the woman as he said, "Kris Smith briefly worked as a back up singer when she met my parent. They immediately hit it off and, since Kris and I were the same age, we started dating. We got along so well that we kinda started planning our wedding while Mom wrote a few songs to kick start Kris' solo career."

Paul let out a shaky breath, his emotions clearly showing both in his demeanor and voice. "We were all on our way out to dinner one night, only a month before the wedding when it happened. A drunk driver hit us head on killing himself, mom and dad... And Kris. For some reason, I survived with only a few injuries."

Tori really felt awful hearing the story. To lose your parent and future wife all in the same accident would be totally devastating. She wanted to wrap Paul in a hug to comfort him in his obvious distress but they were both naked and that would've felt extremely awkward for her. Still, she gently laid her hand on his forearm, hoping that would be enough.

It took a few minutes but Paul finally gathered himself enough to continue. "Anyway. Mom and dad made good money when they were alive and they had a huge insurance policy to boot. That's where most of my wealth and the house near Venice Florida came from. I also found out that I'm pretty good at predicting stocks so I have a very healthy portfolio to live off of."

Tori tentative ventured, "So, you bought this ranch to get away from it all... Just like you're letting us?"

"Yeah," Paul lightly chuckled through his waning tears. "The house in Florida was mom and dads but there are too many memories associated with it, so I only use it for the occasional week-long vacation during the winter. The rest of the time I spend here."

Tori wasn't sure if she should broach the subject or not, but she was still curious so she asked, "Is Kris the reason you invited me here?"

"No... and yes," Paul answered, now regaining himself. "My work with the boy's and girl's club got me to thinking that others needed a safe refuge to get away from the hassles of normal life so I started to look around and realized that up and coming stars like you, Jade, Cat and the iCarlys needed a place to relax, too. As I told you when we first talked, I know first hand the pressures you and others like you are facing. When a friend of mine sent me a few clips of you from the internet, I knew you had a bright future in the music industry."

"You saw me on the internet?" Tori curiously questioned. "Where? I thought you'd first seen me perform on the Platinum Music Awards like everybody else." She knew the PMAs were the main reason her career got off the ground. The exposure from the music awards show had really gotten her name out there in the public's eye and led to the contract with Mason.

"No," Paul chuckled. "Actually, my friend had graduated from Hollywood Arts a while back and he keeps tabs on new talent coming out of there. He'd sent me edited highlights of the first major musical production you were in, **Uptown, Downtown**, complete with the horror makeup and the big finale, song-and-dance number, **Finally Falling**."

Tori remembered what he was talking about. Shortly after she'd transferred to Hollywood Arts she'd somehow gotten the lead female role in a major play the school was putting on written by the famous Broadway writer, Sophia Michele. Unfortunately Cat was taking a Hollywood Makeup class at the time and she'd used Grizzly Glue instead of spirit gum which would normally be used, and Tori was stuck wearing a hideously ugly mask during most of the performance. Luckily her sister Trina and Cat retrieved the solvent from the glue company located in Bakersfield and the makeup was removed before the final number was over. Ms. Michele thought the cast had added the zombie makeup on purpose to show that the way one looks isn't important whenever love is concerned.

Tori often wondered if Ms. Michele had ever considered casting her in any future Broadway musicals she wrote.

But all that was neither here nor there. Tori asked, "You mean someone posted the play on **The Slap**?" (Of course she was referring to the web site dedicated to Hollywood Arts High School.)

"That and a whole lot more that you've been involved in," Paul answered with a sly smile. "I've seen all of your performances at the **Full Moon Jam** concerts and the plays you've been in, _plus_ a few people have posts the songs you've sung at **Karaoke Dokey**. I thought for sure Shawn Quincy would've signed you to a deal after singing at his daughter's birthday party, but you did get a contract with Mason Thornesmith after the PMAs and I just had to meet you."

Tori nervously laughed, "Yeah. I thought for sure Mason woulda either dropped me or made me go back to wearing those ridiculous clothes after the awards show, but he decided to play it straight with my career after the performance went over so well."

The ranch owner let out another sigh before saying, "Anyway, you remind me so much of Kris and the career she could've had."

Tori could see where he was coming from. Watching the students mob her in Ridgway and also when he met she and Cat at the airport. He could have been watching Kris sign autographs for the kids or had been standing in an airport, ready to greet his wife after coming home from a gig.

Paul started to lead Tori out of his bedroom but she suddenly stopped and tentatively asked, "So, do you still miss her? I mean... Kris."

Without turning around, the ranch owner let out a sad sigh and thoughtfully peered down at the carpeting for a few seconds before he softly replied, "I don't think I'll ever get over losing her. Kris' death, combined with my parents in the same accident, was devastating." He absently rubbed his right shoulder and Tori noticed for the first time, a large faint scar near his left shoulder blade. She probably hadn't see the angry white slash before because they would normally be facing each other whenever they talked.

Tori took a good look at the naked buff man with his back to her. She also saw nasty scars on the side of his left knee and another just where his hairline met his neck. She wasn't sure but guessed that they'd happened during the same accident that killed his parents and fiancée. Tori could only imagine that Paul was absently massaging the former injury because of some painful phantom memory that still haunted him.

The brunette singer immediately felt sympathy for the man; The guy who had opened his house to her and her friends so they could get away from the rigors and pressures of their professional and scholarly en devours. Someone who'd opened his heart to her, letting her get a little glimpse into what he'd once been a part of and then tragically lost.

"Awww, to heck with it," Tori mumbled to herself before she quickly circled around to face Paul and brought him in to a caring embrace. Reluctantly, timidly, Paul encircled Tori in his arms and returned the hug.

_"Ohhh, this is nice," _Tori thought as she savored the feeling of Paul's strong arms around her, almost enveloping her in a warm comfortable embrace. It definitely felt different than any of the other hugs she'd received throughout her life. Despite the fact that they were both naked, there didn't seem to be any kind of sexuality to the embrace.

But it was so much better than any of the other hugs she'd received over the years; Not from her mother and father, not from Ryder Daniels and not even the wonderful clinches she'd shared with Steven Carson before she found out he was cheating on her with Carly Shay.

This was totally different than any of those other hugs. Sure, Tori had felt safe in her father's arms when she was younger after he'd chased away a bad dream late at night, but this felt like it took 'safe' to a whole new level. This was safe and secure and calming and exciting, all at the same time.

This embrace felt perfect.

The embrace felt like... pure love.

It didn't matter to Tori that she felt a stirring in her loins; Something she had never felt with any of her former boyfriends. It didn't matter to her that Paul seemed to be getting a little aroused, also; His penis was twitching and starting to gently push against her abdomen.

The hug still felt perfect and she wished it could go on forever. Unfortunately...

"Tori!?"

The high pitched call of her velvety-redheaded friend broke the magic of the moment. She and Paul swiftly jumped apart, embarrassment showing in their blushing faces. "Ummm," she sputtered, shyly looking away, slightly confused and perhaps a tad mortified in almost being caught by Cat in such a compromising position with their host.

Paul saw the emotions running through the girl and said, "That's okay Tori. Thank you."

"Yeah... sure, anytime," Tori muttered and quickly spun away to race out of the bedroom. She swiftly slowed to a walk when she saw Cat coming out of the kitchen with a can of Peppy Cola in one hand and a power bar in the other.

"There you are, Tori," the diminutive singer brightly yelped when she saw her friend rapidly approaching her up the hallway. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, ah, Paul was just showing me something in the house," Tori replied, trying her best to quell her blush and appear normal.

"Oh. 'Kay-'kay," Cat said as if she totally understood but didn't care. "I was just wondering if you wanted to join me in the pool. The water's great and I found a Frisbee® in the cabana to play with but Sam's asleep and Carly and Freddie don't want to get up."

"Yeah, sure. That sounds like fun," Tori genially laughed, relieved that her friend didn't want to know what Paul had been showing her. She was still a little confused about the hug and what it had meant.

The feelings Tori had felt were more powerful than any she'd felt for any of her former boyfriends. When she was dating Steven Carson, Tori had thought he was 'The One'; That they were going to be together for the rest of their lives. They'd even started to playfully discuss what their children would look like after they'd gotten married and started a family.

But the emotions she had felt during that brief hug with Paul were more intense, more real than anything she'd experienced with Steven.

Did that mean she was falling in love with their host?

The thought was pushed aside when Cat randomly asked, "Have you ever wondered why Hawaii has interstate highways? I mean, what other states do they connect to?"


	7. Coming to Terms

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my slightly twisted, devious mind.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 7

Coming to Terms

Xxxxxx

Tori Vega barely got any sleep that night and woke up still thinking about the hug she and Paul had share the previous afternoon. She'd gone out to the patio and forgotten all about the encounter while playing with Cat in the pool, laughing and jumping and splashing around with the Frisbee, but the thoughts of the embrace returned and niggled at the back of her mind for the rest of the evening after the pool time fun.

The situation was slightly complicated during dinner that evening when Carly stated that she, Sam and Freddie had to head back to Seattle in the morning. They originally were going to take a week off from everything, but Freddie's mother, Marissa Benson, had called her son and insisted they had to come home right away. It seems Spencer had once again started a small fire while working on one of his sculptures in the apartment (big surprise considering the artist's sporadic pyrotechnic abilities) and the teens were needed to placate Bushwell Plaza's management, or something like that. They wanted a _'responsible_ _adult'_ in the apartment just in case it happened again. And the iCarlys all knew it _would_ happen sooner or later.

Anyway, the three teens needed to head back to Seattle sooner rather than later.

Tori wasn't looking forward to the trio leaving. Yes they barely knew each other but she considered them friends now and she didn't want to see them leave. That would mean she and Cat would be alone in the house with Paul where another opportunity might arise and she'd find herself getting close to him again; Sharing a laugh or smile which would lead to a touch which could lead to another hug which may lead to... What? A Kiss? A major make-out session? Her giving up her virginity?

Tori shuddered at the thought. But she suddenly realized that the shudder was in anticipation, not from dread of what the scenario might entail.

She'd never gone that far with any of her boyfriends before. They had kissed and cuddled on the couch in her living room but she'd never let any of the guys touch her in a provocative way, not even through her clothes. Paul was the first man to see and touch her while she was naked. (Well, except for her father who used to bathe her when she was little.)

Yet she'd nakedly embraced Paul Bowman, blissfully savoring the feeling of his semi-flaccid manhood against her bare stomach.

These feeling were all so new to Tori, so foreign. She decided she needed some time to sort them out. But where could she go? What could she do to get away from Cat, her friend, and Paul, the man who was causing these new feelings, so she could have a little alone time to think and wrap her mind around them?

Tori glanced over at the alarm clock next to the bed on the nightstand. It was early in the morning, just after six A.M. and the sun was still hidden behind the mountains to the east, but barely lightening the sky. It was still pre-dawn.

Well, one thing Tori _could_ do to get away from everyone for a short time would be to take a nice _long_ hot shower. She rolled out of bed, grabbed her toiletry kit and headed for the upstairs bathroom. It didn't sound like any of the other teens were up yet and Tori was grateful for that. She quietly ducked into the bathroom and grabbed a big fluffy towel, setting it next to the tub, before getting her travel sized shampoo, conditioner and body gel out of the small bag.

The water was the perfect temperature when she stepped into the tub and closed the shower curtain. She'd just started to lather up her hair when she heard the shower curtain slide open and a girl's squeal of delight as she was joined in the tub.

"Morning, Tori," Cat screeched in utter glee as she nakedly pushed passed the brunette and ducked under the hot stream of water.

"Cat?" Tori yelped, recognizing the voice but she couldn't see her friend since she didn't want to get shampoo in her eyes and had them closed tight.

"I just love a hot shower in the morning," the redhead joyfully yelled as she brought out her own bottle of shampoo and went to work on her red velvet-hued locks.

Tori could only chuckled at how Cat didn't consider it strange about joining her in the shower. But then again, that was the wonderfully wacky world of Cat Valentine. She and the redhead had been walking around naked for the past few days at the ranch, most of the times outdoors, so being naked together in the shower just naturally seemed to be okay for the child-like girl.

"So... Tori," Cat started to say as she rinsed and repeated. "Did you find out from Paul why he looks at you strangely when you were alone with him yesterday?"

Tori was a little taken aback by the forward question that came from out of nowhere and hit the proverbial nail on the head, but quickly rallied. "Actually, I did. It just so happens that I look like his former fiancée who died with his parents in a car accident. Her eye color was different and her cheekbones aren't as pronounced as mine, but otherwise we looked a lot alike."

"Gee, that's terrible," Cat squeaked and stopped washing her hair. "To lose the one you love and your parents in an accident? I can't imagine that happening. I'd be a total wreck!"

"I would too," Tori absently said in deep thought, wondering what she'd do if her parents suddenly died in some unknown fashion. Of course she'd be shocked and extremely heart broken, but she was now making a decent living as a pop singer so she wouldn't be totally lost as to what to do. Tori was even starting to look for an apartment or condo to live in so she could move out of her parents house and have a little more privacy and freedom.

Her sister Trina probably wouldn't be too shaken by such a travesty, as egotistical as she was and also considering Trina recently moved in with the floor director from the show she was on: Divertisimo. The happy couple were even creating a new comedic soap opera for the Spanish language cable station.

Starring Trina Vega, of course.

Tori shook her head to come out of her thoughts and said, "Anyway, that's the reason Paul looks at me funny every once in a while. He's remembering a former girlfriend that looks a little like me."

"Well that makes sense," Cat giggled and she started to loofah body wash over her arms. She suddenly stopped and perked, "Hey! Maybe he wants you to be his new girlfriend. You know he already likes the way you look since you look like his former girlfriend."

"Yeah, but maybe she had a different personality than I do," Tori countered after she finished rinsing the conditioner out of her hair. "I don't think Paul's too concerned with looks alone; He's not that type of guy. I think he'd be more concerned about what type of personality his girlfriend has rather than how beautiful she is."

"That's so true," Cat said as she rinsed off one more time. As her head emerged from under the spray of water, she randomly asked, "Say, if we melt dry ice can we take a bath without getting wet?"

That question threw Tori off for a second or two before she finally said, "Gee, I really don't know, Cat. Maybe that's something you should look up on the web." She suddenly had a brilliant idea to distract her friend and continued, "..._Ooooor_ maybe you could ask Freddie. He seems to know a lot about everything."

"'Kay-'kay!" The redhead perked, gathered up her shower supplies and stepped out of the tub. "Well, I'll see you downstairs at breakfast." And with that, Cat quickly shut the curtain, dried herself off and happily dashed out of the bathroom. As she closed the door, the redhead loudly called out to no one in particular, "I'm Cuckoo for Coco Puffs!"

Tori could only shake her head and laugh at her friend's enthusiasm for something as simple as a breakfast cereal. And for some strange reason, she suddenly felt a lot better about the situation with Paul. The little chat with Cat had gotten her to rationally think about the situation with their host and realize that, just maybe, he was only seeing her as a close resemblance of his former love and it brought back both happy and sad memories for him.

Of course if she and Kris _did_ have similar personalities then things could become extremely complicate.

Tori rinsed off one final time before turning off the water. As she opened the shower curtain and stepped out of the bathtub she saw the towel she'd laid out for herself was missing. Tori glanced around the room and finally spied it crumpled up on the floor near the door, obviously damp from use. Since only one other person had been in the bathroom while she was showering, that meant only one person could've used the towel Tori had laid out for herself.

"Cat!"

Xxxxxx

Tori was the last person in the kitchen that morning... And she was the only one wearing clothes. She immediately asked the trio from Seattle, "How come your not dressed? I thought you had to leave this morning."

"We do," Carly answered, not looking up from the bowl of freshly cut up fruit she and her boyfriend were feeding each other from. "But our plane doesn't depart until shortly after ten o'clock so we have plenty of time before we need to get dressed and leave."

Sam was tearing into a strip of bacon as she asked, "So what's up with you and your skinny jeans? Were you thinking about seeing us off or something?"

"No, I thought I'd head out to the stable and go for a ride."

"That sounds like fun," the redhead enthused before she took a big spoonful of cereal into her mouth. As she chew, her shoulders slowly slumped and she added through her mouthful of mush, "But I didn't want to do anything strenuous today. Just relax by the pool."

"You can still do that, Cat," Tori told her friend with a light chuckle and friendly pat on the shoulder, relieved that her friend wasn't going to join her. "We don't have to do _everything_ together."

Paul place a plate with eggs, bacon and hash browns in front of Tori and asked, "Will you need any help saddling up a horse? I seem to remember you weren't able to pick up a saddle the other day by yourself."

"I was able to get the saddle _off_ the horse," Tori reminded him as she shook a little salt and pepper onto her eggs and hash browns before digging in. She had pulled the saddle off the horse but it immediately dropped to the ground, and she did need help carrying it back to the tack room. Tori sliced off a bite of hash browns, chewed for a few seconds and swallowed before adding, "If I can't do it then I'll just make sure the horses are fed and the watering trough is full, then watch them. They're beautiful animals and I just love to watch them out there in the pasture." She knew Paul would offer to go with her but she wanted to be by herself that morning so she was trying to dissuade him, and anyone else, from accompanying her anywhere.

Paul suddenly got the impression that Tori wanted to be alone for some reason. Over the last few days since they'd arrived at the ranch, Tori and Cat had been inseparable. But this morning, when the taller singer had virtually told her friend that she should keep to her plans and just relax by the pool, he got the impression that Tori was trying to get away from everybody to be by herself.

Paul understood where she was coming from. He knew from experience that everyone needed some time alone every once in a while so he said, "Okay. If you need any help just call and let me know."

Xxxxxx

Tori angrily glared at the leather saddle that didn't want to budge an inch from the sawhorse it was sitting on in the tack room. She had tried and tried but she just couldn't move it. Tori knew she wasn't that strong but this was just ridiculous. She should be able to at least pick up a forty or fifty pound saddle by herself despite how big, bulky and awkward the thing was to move.

She really needed to hit the gym more often.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Tori went outside to the large one hundred twenty gallon watering trough located near the stable in the pasture. She place the hose attached to a well pump into the trough and turned the pump on. Now she only needed to remember to turn the pump off in about fifteen or twenty minutes before the tank was full and the water spilled over.

Tori went back into the stable and got some hay that was stored in one of the stalls and placed it outside in the paddock, just like Paul had done the other day. She knew that the horses usually grazed in the pasture but the supplemental feed was there if they wanted it. It was the same with the watering trough. The creek ran through the pasture so the horses could drink from it, but the trough was there just in case.

Remembering the watering trough, Tori went back outside and saw the tank was almost full, just an inch or so below the rim, so she turned off the water and replaced the hose on its hook.

Tori felt a great sense of accomplishment, having fed and watered the horses all on her own. She was still a little miffed that she couldn't move the saddle by herself, but that would come in time if she started to work out in the gym.

"_Wait a minute_," Tori thought to herself. "_Since when am I going to get a chance to ride the horses out here after I go back to L.A. and my singing career?"_

That really bummed the brunette out. She'd only been on the ranch for four days now and had only ridden the horses once, but she could see herself doing this practically every day for the rest of her life.

Well, she had driven (without stalling the red Jeep once!) out to the stable this morning to ride the horses, and ride she was going to do. If she couldn't saddle one of the horses then she'd ride without one. After all, people rode bareback all the time. Didn't they?

With a new resolve, Tori got a set of halter and reins out of the tack room and walked out into the pasture. The horse she had ridden the other day trotted up to her, maybe even recognizing her, and almost eagerly accepted the bit into its mouth.

Tori suddenly realized she had another slight problem. When she mounted the tall horse the first time the other day, Paul had given her a leg up into the saddle. Now she didn't have that boost and she couldn't figure out just how to get on the tall animal's back without a stirrup or someone else to give her a lift up.

Tori glanced over to the paddock and came up with an idea. She led the horse to the wooden fence and climbed up onto the second rail, hoping that would give her the height she needed to get on.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't swing her leg over onto the broad back of the horse, her skinny jeans just wouldn't allow it.

"Well," Tori said to herself in resignation, knowing there was only one solution to the problem, "if the horse is naked without a saddle, I suppose it's only fair that I'm naked, too."

Tori stripped out of her shoes, socks and jeans, then as an extra measure, tossed aside her t-shirt and undergarments as well. She climbed back onto the second rail of the fence and found it extremely easy to swing a leg over the horses back without the encumbrance of her restrictive clothing. Tori smugly smile at her innovative solution to the problem.

Tori remembered Paul mentioning that she'd have to use her thighs more if she didn't have stirrups to rest her feet in so she squeezed with her legs and started to walk the horse further out into the pasture. By the time she'd gotten ten feet away from the fence, she knew she was in for the time of her life riding naked like that. Her lower vertical smile was hitting the wither bone just right on the horses back, giving her a _extremely_ pleasant feeling between the legs.

That brought to mind a romance novel she'd once read that mentioned the sexual thrill from riding naked on a saddle-less horse. At the time she'd thought that the author had only used the imagery to move the story along.

Now she knew the truth.

Xxxxxx

Tori Vega was a very tired but happy camper as she nakedly made her way through the house and out onto the pool deck. She hadn't gotten dressed after her horseback ride and she was so glad she'd driven to the stables. Tori highly doubted she could've walked ten feet, let alone the half mile, after dismounting from her multi-orgasmic gallop.

The brunette unceremoniously plopped down into the chaise lounge next to her friend and was just drifting off to sleep when her redheaded friend noticed her and asked, "How was your ride?"

"It was faaaaan-tastic," Tori enthused with a extremely content smile, not opening her eyes to peer over at her friend. She gently rubbed her hands over her stomach and lower chest as she continued, "I plan on going for a ride like that every morning while were here and I just might have to buy myself a horse when we get back to L.A.."

Paul had been cleaning and checking the pool's Ph and chlorine levels and was listening to the two girls talk. He turned to Tori and queried, "So you were able to saddle the horse?"

"No, I could barely move it an inch," Tori giddily giggled.

Cat sat up, confused, and asked, "Then how did you go for a ride on a horse if you couldn't saddle it?"

"I didn't say I used a saddle," the brunette coyly answered, the joy-filled smile never leaving her face.

The elated but very content smile on Tori's face spoke volumes to Paul. He'd seen how she was dressed that morning and knew she wouldn't be able to mount the horse unless she got a boost up or a certain very tight item of clothing, at the very least, was shed. He slyly begged, "So you really, _got_ _off,_ riding in the pasture?"

"You could say that," the brunette singer tittered like a school girl who was keeping a dirty little secret from her friends.

"I don't get it." Cat was still confused, especially with the cryptic way they were talking.

Tori finally opened her eyes and peered over at the redhead. She laughed a little and said, "Well, I can show you what I mean the next time we both go riding."

Satisfied with that answer, Cat perked up and said, "'Kay-'kay." Her face scrunched up in confusion again as she randomly asked, "But, do you know why they put those Braille bumpy symbol thingies on the drive thru bank machines? Do they think a blind person is gonna drive up to it?"


	8. Later that Day

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my slightly warped but creative mind.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 8

Later That Day

Xxxxxx

Tori fell asleep in the chaise lounge out on the pool deck after returning from her _very_ pleasant ride and the short conversation with Cat and Paul. (The iCarly gang had left for the airport while Tori was out at the stables.)

Cat, though, had jumped in the pool and splashed around until lunch was ready.

After lunch, Cat was the sleepy one while Tori was wide awake and ready to do something. While Cat went up to her room for a nap (the redhead had giggled and called it a _'Cat_ Nap' before she headed up the stairs) Tori asked Paul if he'd be willing to show her one of the local hiking trails.

You see, Tori had come to a decision.

During her time with the horses and short nap, she'd come to the decision that Paul was the guy for her; That she could see herself living there in Colorado by his side, taking care of the horses and maybe even raising a child or two with him. (At least that was _part_ of her dream during her nap. The rest was a bit erotic involving Paul and the horses and a big open pasture. I'll leave it up to your imagination to fill in the details.)

Paul had the brunette singer get dressed in shorts, sneakers and a tank top, then drive the red jeeps the few miles back down to the end of the canyon where the trail head started and park next to another vehicle. (Probably someone bicycling the trail since there was a bike rack attached to the rear bumper of the small SUV.)

As they got out of the jeep, Paul pointed up a well-worn path in a small side opening of the canyon and said, "There are miles of trails starting here that go up above the canyon. A lot of people either walk or bike the trails, some even bring their horses and ride, so you might meet someone up there."

"That's why you made me get dressed," Tori nodded in realization. She perked up when she saw him walk around the vehicle and get into the driver's side of the jeep and asked, "Aren't you coming with me?"

Still sitting in the seat, Paul leaned out of the driver's doorway and begged, "Do you want me to come with you? I thought you wanted to be alone today. At least that was the impression I got when you went to the stables by yourself."

Tori was slightly taken aback by how well he was able to read her emotional state earlier. She _had_ wanted to go to the stables alone to clear her mind and think things through. (It almost hadn't happened because of the euphoric adventure the jaunt had turned into.) But now she wanted his company. Tori had a few questions she needed answers to from him, and she and Paul being alone on the trails was the perfect time to ask them. She didn't know when she'd get the chance again considering Cat would probably revert to her normal self and want to accompany Tori on whatever she did for the rest of the trip.

Tori screwed up her courage and admitted, "I _did_ want to be alone this morning but now I'd like to talk to you in private about something and thought it'd be best if we talked while walking on the trails."

Paul simply said, "I see," and got out of the Jeep. He closed the door and went to the rear of the vehicle where he pulled out a fanny pack. He fastened the pack around his waist, after first making sure both bottle of water stowed in the pack were full, then took off into the side canyon without another word.

Tori was confused by Paul's actions and not too happy with him leaving her behind but she put it aside, took off after him and quickening her pace to catch up.

"Are you alright?" the brunette singer begged when she finally caught up to Paul. He was moving at a brisk pace and seemed to be concentrating on the path more than their surroundings. But then again, there wasn't much to look at. There were a few scattered clumps of grass and weeds and what he'd told her was something called 'rabbit grass', but other than that the few scrub pines were the only vegetation on the rocky, hard-packed uneven ground around the well-worn trail. She could see the mountains to the east of them, spanning the horizon from the north to the south, but otherwise the vista wasn't much to look at.

Of course all that could be the draw of the hiking trails. Just to get out of town and away from the everyday hustle and bustle while getting a good cardiovascular workout in the clean fresh country air might be just the thing to revitalize someone.

"I'm fine," Paul huffed out, almost sounding put-off by having to come along on the hike.

"You don't sound alright," Tori tentatively ventured. "You sound a little... _angry,_ at something." He didn't respond to her words, he just kept on walking.

After a mile or two, Tori noticed that Paul had led them to an overview of the canyon, looking down on his property. She'd also seen the many signs along the barbed wire fence they'd climbed over a few hundred feet back that said they were on private property now. "Won't the owner get mad that we're trespassing?" (One of the signs almost made her trip when she read it. It said, _'Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again!'_)

Paul let out a light chuckle as it appeared that whatever was bothering him had suddenly disappeared. He slyly smiled and said, "I don't think I'll mind if we're up here." He knew that answer would confuse Tori so he continued, "You see, the man who first staked a claim to the canyon was smart enough to also add on a coupla acres on each of the rims for his property. That way no one could build a house overlooking his place."

"So you own the land up here too?" Tori marveled at the forethought as she glanced around at the stark beauty of it all, also being able to see the house, the barn and the stables situated in the canyon below. She could just imagine the allure of owning a home overlooking the canyon, sitting out on the back porch, watching the sun set in the distance while a small herd of cattle or deer grazed in the pasture below. It also eased her mind that people wouldn't be looking down at her from the edge while she was nakedly walking around outside the house. (The thought of someone looking down on them from the canyon rim had never occurred to Tori or Cat, thinking only two dimensionally instead of three dimensionally.)

"I used to own a few more acres up here until the state wanted to put in the hiking trails. I sold them the land at a reasonable price and still came out with a tidy little profit." Paul saw the broad smile on Tori's face, knowing that she was happy for him. But he also had a pretty good idea what she wanted to talk about after the unexpected hug yesterday, so he ventured, "But that not what you wanted to talk to me about, is it?"

The singer immediately frowned as she sat down Indian-style on the ground a few feet from the rim of the canyon and worriedly said, "No, it isn't. But I don't know how to broach the subject without maybe offending you."

Paul sat down facing Tori, crossed his legs mirroring her and said, "I don't think you could offend me so just come right out with it. Get it off your chest, so to speak." As an illustration, he took off his t-shirt and laid it over one of his knees.

"Yeah, right," Tori nervously laughed at the joke and glanced around, making sure no one was close enough to hear them talk. She also considered taking off her shirt to be more comfortable but decided against it, considering what she was about to confess.

The brunette let out a quick breath to settle her nerves and stated, "I really like you."

Paul automatically answered, "I like you, too."

Tori knew it was going to be both embarrassing and difficult to confess her true feelings to Paul and that he might reject her, but she pushed on. "No, I mean I _reeeeally_ like you... a _lot._ I like you so much that I've been wondering if there was any possibility of, you know, maybe you and me... Maybe... Hooking up?"

There! She'd got it out in something that sounded a little like English. That is if she hadn't stumbled over her words and paused too much.

She hopefully looked to the red-bearded man who was only four years older than her to gauge his reaction. Paul appeared to be in deep thought so she anxiously added, "I don't want you to think this is because you're rich and own a ranch. I mean I'm starting to make a decent living as a singer and I don't need the money, so I'm not a gold digger or anything."

Paul let out a chuckle at her sudden backpedaling before he replied, "No, I don't think you're a gold digger." He quickly sobered and went on. "No, I was trying to figure out just how you thought you'd offend me by telling me that you were falling for me."

"Well," Tori blushed and looked down at her hands folded in her lap, unable to watch Paul's reaction to what she was about to say. "I was worried that you might not be totally over Kris yet. I thought that if I came on to you, maybe looking to be her replacement because we look alike, at least a little bit, that you'd might just outright reject me because of that very reason."

Paul nodded as he listened to Tori's words then slowly turned his head and blankly stare out at the canyon next to them for ten or fifteen seconds, deep in his own thoughts.

It was the longest fifteen seconds of Tori's very short life so far.

Finally, without turning back to look at her, Paul sighed and softly, almost silently, said, "I don't think I'll ever get over Kris' death..."

Tori was simply crushed. If Paul wasn't over his parents and fiancée's deaths yet (the three most important people in his life so far) then he more than likely wasn't ready to start a new relationship. That also meant she had just laid her heart out there on the line and he had rejected her. She tried not to but her body automatically slumped, disappointed by his words. Luckily Paul hadn't seen her slump in defeat so she straightened up and put on a smile and said, "That's okay. I just..." She was cut off before she could come up with a lame excuse for throwing herself at him and being outright rejected.

"As I was saying," Paul firmly cut in as he turned to the brunette with a warm smile slowly growing, "I might not ever get over her death, but I think it's time I moved on. I think Kris would _want_ me to move on."

"Really?" Tori hopefully brightened, her spirits soaring.

"Really," Paul assured. "I was worried that you might not have fallen for me because you look so much like Kris; That you'd think you were only a replacement for her, and you're not. She could be a bit abrasive at times but mainly Kris was all business. She just couldn't see the fun in life. I loved her for it but you're personality is completely different." A sly smirk replaced the happy smile as he continued, "But I just have to warn you that I _might_ call out her name when we're making love. I hope you're not the jealous type and won't be offended if I do."

Tori let out a relieved laugh as she joked, "Well, I'll let you get away with it once or twice, but after that I might just think you've taken up with another lover. Just remember, my name is _Tori._ T-O-R-I."

"I'll try to remember," Paul laughed along with his newly designated girlfriend.

Tori started to tilt her head and lean in, hoping to seal their new found relationship with a kiss. She was slightly surprised and totally satisfied when Paul closed the distance and initiated the buss.

As their lips met, Tori felt what she could only think of as an electric spark that she'd never felt from any of her other former boyfriends. There was also the same warm secure feeling that she had felt yesterday when they'd hugged.

In other words...

The kiss felt _perfect._

Eyes closed, Tori leaned back to a sitting position and lightly moaned, "That was niiiice." She had definitely make the right move in hooking up with Paul.

The smile on Paul's face seemed to almost divide his face in two as he replied, "Yes it was, and there's plenty more whenever you want another."

"I want," Tori sensually growled as she started to lean back into her newly designated beau.

Unfortunately, her cellphone rang just as their lips were about to meet again. The brunette groaned in frustration as she sat back, pulled the pear shaped phone from her pocket and checked the incoming call. "It's Mason."

"It might be important so you'd better take it."

Tori cheerily accepted the call, "Hi Mason." Her face immediately fell a bit when she heard the other person speak. "Oh, hey Chelsea. What's up?" The brunette listened to Mason Thornesmith's assistant for a few seconds and she perked back up. "Really? When? … Uh huh. Do they need me to come back early? Do they want me in it? … No? Okay. Well, I'll see you when I get back. Yeah, Buh-bye."

"Well?" Paul curiously asked as Tori disconnected the call.

Tori put her PearPhone away as she answered, "André's girlfriend Hope decided they should get married two weeks from tomorrow, and that means he won't be able to help me with my next album. And _that_ means I'm either going to have to work with someone else or do it all myself."

"I think I might be able to help you with your problem," Paul slyly said as he stood up then offered her a hand to help her up while tucking his shirt into the waistband of his shorts.

"Really?" Tori questioned as she stood and brushed off the seat of her cargo shorts. "I mean I already have five songs written but I'll need about ten or twelve more." Her first album had twelve songs on it so she wanted at least that many, plus a few extras already prepared just in case Mason didn't like any of them, for her second album.

"That's not a problem," Paul said as he took her hand and started leading Tori back the way they'd come. "But now that we're an... item, I have an odd question for you."

Tori briefly looked down at their joined hands and smiled at the warm, friendly gesture before she shifted her gaze into his deep brown eyes. "Ummm, sure. Ask away."

"Have you ever seen any of the fake naked pictures of you on the web?"

Tori let out a light laugh as she answered, "As a matter of fact, yes. Mason showed me a few just to let me know that they're out there, and that with my budding fame there will be more and more of them posted as my career grows. He didn't want me to freak out if I accidentally ran across any while surfing the web. Why do you ask?"

Paul cryptically answered, "I'll tell you later, but I think you could have some fun with them."

The brunette singer wasn't sure if she liked the wicked smile thrown her way but she trusted Paul, he hadn't lied or mistreated her in any way yet, so she would wait for him to bring the subject up later.


	9. Music and Emergency

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my twisted mind.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 9

Music and an Emergency

Xxxxxx

When they got back to the jeep, Tori took her top off without looking around first and then drove them back to the ranch. Before she stepped into the house she also stripped out of her shorts, shoes and socks without a second thought or checking to see if anyone was within sight. (She wasn't wearing any underwear, seeing if she liked going 'commando'. Much to her elation, she found she _really_ enjoyed it.)

Tori had certainly grown to love the Naturist lifestyle and was now completely comfortable being naked anywhere on the property. Of course she still wouldn't strip in town or where she might possibly be spotted by a stranger, but she also knew her mom and dad were going to be in for a big surprise when she got home after the brief respite and she started walking around the house in just a skimpy bathrobe or totally au naturale.

She stopped in the kitchen to grab a Peppy Cola out of the refrigerator before heading straight for the pool. There, she found Cat in one of the lounge chairs apparently bopping along to some music on her Pearpod.

"Hey Cat," Tori called out, but didn't get the redhead's attention. She walked over to the chair, pulled one of the ear buds out of Cat's ear, laid her hand on the redhead's shoulder and called out again, "Hey Cat."

The petite singer immediately perked up as she turned to her friend and practically screamed, "Tori, where have you been? I woke up from my Cat Nap and couldn't find anybody!"

Tori pointed to the top of the cliff overlooking the house and answered with a jovial chuckle, "Paul and I went for a hike up there. I had to talk to him about something and wanted a little privacy."

"Oh, 'kay-'kay," Cat nodded and immediately stuck the ear bud back in place to go back to listening to her music.

Tori pulled the ear bud out of Cat's ear again and queried, "Don't you wanna know what we talked about?"

"Should I? You said it was private."

Tori had to smile at her somewhat ditzy friend. She thought Cat would immediately become curious about what she and Paul had talked about. Just like her namesake, the redhead was usually the curious one; Curious as a cat, as the saying goes. But the redhead was willing to allow Tori her privacy which made some sense to the brunette. While Cat was normally curious, she wasn't when it came to a friend's privacy and had proven so a few times so far on the trip.

Anyway...

Tori anxiously laughed as she replied, "It _was_ private but I want you to know about it since you're my best friend."

"Oh, okay," Cat said sitting up straight in the lounge chair while taking the other ear bud out of her ear to pay full attention to Tori. "What is it?"

"Well, over the last day or two I've really begun to understand Paul... And I've grown to like him... A _lot."_ Tori hoped her friend would get the message without having to spell it out, but the slightly confused face on the redhead obviously meant she hadn't.

After a few seconds, Cat's face suddenly brightened making Tori think that the shorter girl actually _had_ understood. The brunette's hopes were blown out of the water when Cat enthused, "I like him too. He's kind and has a great house where I can be naked anytime I wanna be."

Tori lightly laughed as she said, "I like that too but I've grown to _like-_like Paul, if you get my drift."

Cat scrunched up her face for a few seconds as she pondered what her friend had told her. Suddenly, like the proverbial light bulb had turned on over her head, Cat shrieked in excitement, jumped up out of her chair and wrapped Tori in a huge embrace, enthusiastically jumping up and down.

"I'm so happy for you, Tori," the redhead bubbled.

"I'm happy, too," Tori laughed and joined in with her bare bouncy friend in the joyful news.

Unfortunately, or fortunately if you want to think that way, the two exuberant girls slipped on a wet spot on the deck and tumbled into the pool. They both surfaced, laughing and splashing each other.

The two teens were brought out of their revelry by some loud, raucous laughter coming from the side of the pool. They looked over and saw a naked Paul, bending over clutching his stomach with his face turning red from laughing so hard.

"What's so funny?" Cat questioned as she made her way over to the side of the pool and shimmied out.

"I'm sorry," Paul apologized as he came down from his fit of laughter. "But you two looked so adorable just now."

Tori giggled along as she got out of the pool, grabbed her towel, then tossed it to Cat before grabbing her friend's towel and said, "I guess we might have, but it _was_ fun."

Cat immediately wrapped Paul in a hug and screamed, "So you and Tori are boyfriend and girlfriend now? That great!"

"I think so too," Paul jovially agreed as he tried to extract himself from the sopping wet, exuberant naked girl. "But I need to talk to you and Tori for a minute about something."

"What do you need to talk to us about?" Cat curiously begged as she finally backed away from the man. She noticed a three-ring binder in Paul's hand behind his back, pointed to it and asked, "What'cha got there?"

"If you two will take a seat, I'll show you."

The two teens obediently sat on the edge of the chaise lounge as Paul handed the thick binder to Tori. (Since she had dried herself off and Cat was still a bit damp.) The brunette opened the folder and started to look over the hundred or so pages of what turned out to be sheet music while Cat leaned in for a look, also.

Tori furrowed her brow and said, "I don't recognize any of these songs."

Paul lightly chuckled and replied, "I wouldn't think you could. You see, those are all the songs my mom wrote but never sold to any other singer over the twenty plus years she and dad were in the music business. A few of them were from their band that I told you about, but all of the others haven't been seen by anyone else."

"You're mom and dad were in a band?" Cat absently queried as she stayed Tori's hand from turning the page while she took a closer look at one of the songs.

"Yes, Cat," the tall redheaded man patiently answered since the girl hadn't heard the story like Tori had. "But the band didn't gain any popularity so they moved behind the scene. As you can see, mom wrote all those songs and did the lighting for different bands while dad worked as a sound engineer. When I was old enough, I helped both of them out."

Tori continued to page through the book and enthused, "Some of these songs would fit me soooo well."

"That's why I'm showing them to you," Paul said with a growing smile. "I want you to pick as many as you'd like and use them on your next album."

Tori's gaze shot from the album to her new boyfriend's face in a flash and begged, "Really? But then Mason would have to pay you for the privilege of me using them."

Paul lightly chuckled as he responded, "Of course. But he'd also have to pay André if he helped you write any new songs. This way, the money would stay closer to home."

"Home?" Tori questioned as she closed the binder. She peered around the patio and suddenly smiled. The brunette singer joyfully laughed as she said, "Yeah, I could see this as my future home. As a matter of fact, I was thinking I'd love to live here just this morning after feeding and watering the horses."

Cat curiously huffed, "You and the horses again? What's so special about the horses? I mean I _did_ have fun riding them the other day but I don't see what the big deal is in riding them _every_ day."

Paul took the three ring binder from Tori and said, "Why don't you show Cat while I start dinner. Just be back in an hour."

"I think I'd like that," Tori enthused as she got up, grabbed her damp towel and headed for the patio door. "Come on Cat and I'll show you the _real_ way to enjoy riding a horse."

The petite redhead gathered the other towel and her Pearpod and started to follow. As the two teens got to the door, Cat stopped in her tracks, held up the music receptacle and curiously begged, "How come there aren't any B batteries? I mean there are double and triple A batteries, and then there are C and D sized batteries. But I've never seen any B batteries for sale anywhere."

Paul answered as he followed the pair into the house, "That's because the B sized battery isn't used that much in the United States. They're commonly found in Russia and Eastern Europe." He noticed Cat raise a finger and take a breath like she was going to ask another question, so he continued, "And just to let you know, there _is _an A size, along with a four-A, one half A, F, J, and N size battery. And then there are the PP sized batteries, which stands for power pack; Also, there are all of the flat, round coin-like batteries. In fact, there are over one hundred different sizes of batteries in the world."

"Wow," Cat exhaled in amazement. "That's a _loooot-a_ batteries."

"But you only need to worry about the ones you use," Paul reassured the young singer.

"Yeah," Tori echoed. "Let's not worry about batteries right now. Let's go ride the horses."

"'Kay-'kay," Cat perked and headed for the stairs to her bedroom to put some clothes on.

"Caaaaat..." Tori cautiously called out to her friend to get her attention. When the diminutive girl turned to her, she said, "We don't need to get dressed. We'll be at the stables where no one can see us."

"Oh, that's right," Cat perked up with a smile. She swiftly raced past Tori out the kitchen door to the garage as she called back, "What are we waiting for!?"

Xxxxxx

Cat was curled up in the passenger's seat of the Jeep, blissfully dozing, as Tori drove them back to the house after only a half hour of nakedly riding the horses bareback. The brunette was also a bit wiped from the stimulating ride but was awake enough to drive them the half mile back to the house.

The petite redhead had almost fallen off the horse she was riding when the first orgasmic wave hit her. After experiencing two more, Cat had quickly dismounted and went into the stable to lie down on the hay bales for another Cat Nap. Tori had to practically carry the petite redhead to the Jeep after putting the bridles and other things away.

"Cat," Tori called to her friend to wake her up as she parked the vehicle in the garage and turned off the engine. "Cat, wake up. We're back at the house."

Cat frowned, curled up tighter in her sleep and despondently murmured, "No, Robbie, I don't like the way you play pirates. Leave me alone."

Startled, Tori gently but firmly shook her friend's shoulder and almost yelled, "Cat!"

"Oh, hey Tori," Cat mewed as she stretched out like, well, like a cat in her seat as she awoke. "I guess I fell asleep after my organisms on the horse."

"I think you mean orgasms..." Tori laughed at her friend's use of the wrong word before she became serious, "...And you were also talking in your sleep."

"Oh?" the redhead nervously begged as she looked around the garage at anything but her friend. It was obvious that she _did_ remember what she had been dreaming about, but still said, "Maybe I did. But I don't know what I was talking about since I was asleep, so I didn't hear what I was saying."

The brunette singer could only shake her head at her friend's evasiveness. But this was the second time Cat had mentioned Robbie and playing pirates, and both times it sounded like a game she never wanted to play ever again. Tori was concerned so she had to ask, "Will you tell me what playing pirates with Robbie is all about and why you don't want to play it with him any more?"

"Oh, well, one time, when we were alone at his house doing some homework," Cat hesitantly started, her face reddening in embarrassment, "Robbie wanted to play pirates and I said okay. He pretended to capture me, tied me to a chair, then cut off all my clothes so I was naked." She perked up and smiled as she said, "I didn't mind that since I already kinda liked being without any clothes on..." Her demeanor fell again when she added, "...Except I was wearing one of my favorite pair of panties and they got cut to shreds. And I was also wearing..."

"Cat," Tori softly interrupted to get the story back on track. "You were telling me about the game?"

"Oh, right. Well anyway," the redhead got back to the story and quietly, almost ashamedly, said, "he started fondling my breasts and then... He put his thing in my mouth. He called it his sword, but it was more like a dagger. It wasn't _that_ long."

"He made you..." Tori begged in utter disbelief, unwilling to finish the sentence because of its lewd sexual content.

Cat could only look down at her hands folded in her lap and embarrassingly squeaked, "I didn't like the taste at all, especially when he immediately... you know... did it in my mouth."

Tori was simply stunned, to say the least. She realized it had been almost three years ago when Cat first bluntly stated that she didn't like the way Robbie played pirates during the first of their weekend poker games, so they all would've been around sixteen or seventeen years old when it had happened.

At least right now she and Cat were alone and still sitting in the Jeep parked in the garage. Tori didn't want anyone else to hear these totally embarrassing details, but she also wanted to learn just how far the 'game' went.

"You said Robbie cut off your clothes, groped your breasts and came in your mouth right away," Tori cautiously hedged. "Did he try to do anything else while you were tied up?"

"Oh, no," Cat quickly denied. "He laid down on the floor and fell asleep right after. Luckily, he didn't tie the ropes too tight and I was able to wiggle my way out of them. Then I got dressed in a pair of his jeans and a tee shirt and left."

"That's..." the brunette tried to find something to say, some way to comfort her friend, but she couldn't find the words. Finally after a minute of silence, Tori leaned over to Cat and wrapped a comforting arm around the redhead as she said, "I wish I'd know just after it'd happened. We could've had Beck and André beat up Robbie for putting you through all that."

"No, it's okay," Cat sighed in resignation. "I kinda liked it, except for the clothes I lost and the icky taste... And Rex taunting me afterward."

That threw Tori for a loop. How could Rex, a ventriloquist dummy, have talked if Robbie had immediately passed out? "Wait. How did Rex taunt you if Robbie was asleep on the floor?"

"I don't know?" the redhead simply shrugged. "But he mumbled something about Robbie being one small step closer to becoming a man and then laughed. Rex wasn't nice to me at all."

The brunette singer could only guess that the curly-haired teen had made the statement while falling asleep and was basically taunting himself, too. She knew Rex had made a few snide comments over the years about Robbie's progression toward puberty, so the jibe was probably aimed at himself, not Cat.

Tori kindly patted Cat's bare thigh, lightly laughed and said, "Well, we don't have to worry about Rex any more now that he and Robbie are getting the help they need. Let's go inside and see how dinner is coming along."

"'Kay-'kay," Cat happily chimed and got out of the Jeep, heading for the kitchen door on still slightly unsteady legs.

Tori groaned as she got out of the vehicle. Her legs and butt were also sore, like Cat's were, from riding twice today and also from the four mile hike. But she decided it was a good kind of soreness. She had done more physical activity today than she had in a _long_ time.

Tori could definitely see herself riding and hiking daily if... no _when,_ she moved in with Paul.

Xxxxxx

Paul had waited for the girls to return before he fired up the grill to cook dinner and Tori knew she'd have to try the dish herself when she got back to Hollywood. Paul had wrapped the remaining Gulf Coast shrimp in bacon and grilled them to perfection.

Tori could see that the dish could be used either as a main course or maybe even as an appetizer or finger-food at a party.

As they were finishing up their meal on the patio, they heard an airplane engine sputtering while the sound grew louder. The three stood and searched the sky to see if they could spot the troubled plane.

Not two seconds later, a single engined Cessna came swooping down the canyon only twenty feet above the ground, its engine coughing and gunning erratically. Paul mutter loud enough for the girls to hear, "He's not going to make it."

The engine revved one more time in a last ditch effort to gain altitude but it was a lost cause. The plane suddenly lost all power and almost nose-dived into the pasture near the house midway between the two cliffs leaving a deep furrow in the ground before settling back on its tails.

Paul immediately raced over to the cabana and grabbed a tee-shirt, cargo shorts and moccasins he had stashed inside for an emergency and quickly put them on. As he was getting dressed and grabbing a handy fire extinguisher and first aid kit, he turned to the girls and ordered, "Tori, call 9-1-1 and tell them we have a small plane down in the middle of the field. Give them our location and remind them that they'll need four-wheel drive vehicles to get close to the crash. Then get dressed and come help me."

"Right," Tori acknowledged and headed for the house.

"What should I do?" Cat yelped in near panic.

"Cat, I want you to get dressed then head out to the road to _that_ gate." He pointed to a metal gate along the road's fence line for the field that was a good one hundred yards beyond the main gate to the ranch house. "I want you to open the gate wide blocking the road, then stay there and direct the emergency vehicles into the field."

"'Kay-'kay!" The redhead quickly dashed into the house. Paul grabbed one more thing from the cabana before he took off for the crash site.

After donning her cargo shorts and t-shirt, Tori had to stop poolside to slip into her purple sneakers before heading out into the field. As she was getting dressed she remembered her and Cat's walk down by the creek and riding the horses out in the field, and decided she didn't want to go out there without any footwear on. For some reason she couldn't fathom, there were quite a few 'cow patties' and 'horse apples' scattered out in the pasture and she didn't want to step in one with her bare feet. She and Cat had also learned what some small, round blackish-brown pellets were when they had asked Paul about them. They were deer droppings. Tori could almost picture that a lot of deer poop would be littered throughout the field since a herd of them practically lived there.

Paul already had one of the plane's doors open and was checking the man inside when Tori arrived. She told him, "The paramedics and fire department are on their way. They asked if there were any fire hydrants in the area but I told them I didn't think so; That we're located pretty far back in the canyon and that the town's water mains don't run out this far." She was extremely proud of herself for remembering that little bit of information Paul had told her and Cat when they'd first arrived in town and drove out to the ranch.

"That was the right thing to say," Paul congratulated the girl before he briefly leaned out of the plane, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and handed her the last thing he'd retrieved from the cabana. "Now, I want you to take this and go over to cut the fence wires. Pull them apart so the emergency vehicles can get close to the plane."

Tori was slightly taken aback from the swift peck on the cheek but couldn't dwell on it because of the emergency. She looked at the tool Paul had handed to her. It was a pair of wire cutters with extra long handles. On one side of the head was a small hammer head and the other a wedge-shaped thing she could only imagine was used to pry the barbed wire off the fence post. Tori turned toward the fence and took a few steps before she turned back and asked, "Should the fire truck and ambulance get close to the plane? I mean isn't there a chance the gas will catch on fire and explode?"

Paul had moved back into the cockpit but yelled over his shoulder, "The aviation fuel tanks are in the wings and they're still intact. I don't smell any leaks so it should be okay. Just go!"

Tori could only concede to Paul's reasoning. Just how he would know that the fuel tanks were in the wings could be taken up at a later time. She could already hear the sirens of the emergency vehicles echoing up the canyon road so she quickly hustled over to the fence.

Tori struggled trying to cut the first double strand of barbed wire. She knew she definitely need to hit the gym if her hands weren't strong enough to snip some simple wire. Using all her strength the wire finally gave. She went to work on the middle strand of the three, finally realizing to use the long handles as leverage to cut the wire easier.

The third and last wire was the easiest to cut but Tori had to stoop down to get at it and was closer than she'd been to the other two strands. When it gave, the wire snapped apart and clipped her shin, leaving a nice little gash in its wake.

"Owwww," Tori yelped and clutched and rubbed at the wound. When she pulled her hand away, she saw quite a bit of her blood on it. "Stupid wire," the brunette swore at the inanimate metal and tried to kick it.

Just then the fire truck came into view and Tori saw just how big it was. She quickly glanced at the hole she'd cut in the fence and realized it probably wasn't going to be wide enough for the vehicles to pass through. Making a snap decision, Tori raced over to the old wooden post that the barbed wire was still attached to and tried to yank the pole out of the ground.

"Stupid pole," Tori screamed as the fencepost wouldn't budge. Angrily, she started to kick and slam the post with the sole of her shoe. Fortunately, she noted that the wooden post shifted away from her so she grabbed it and started to rock it back and forth, loosening it. Just as the fire truck arrived next to her and one of the firemen got out to help, Tori had the post loose enough to pull it up and out of the ground. She dragged it and the wire away from the new entrance and triumphantly tossed it aside so the truck and ambulance could made their way to the plane.

Xxxxxx

Things were finally settling down. The ambulance had left a short time ago, transporting the pilot and the one passenger from the plane to the hospital. Luckily, the injuries weren't life threatening. There were a couple of broken bones along with some minor cuts and quite a few bruises, but otherwise the two occupants of the plane would live.

The fire department was making sure there weren't any leak in the fuel tanks and that the engine had sufficiently cooled down before they would leave. Paul, Cat and Tori had been told that someone from the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration, was supposed to show up sometime tomorrow or Monday to investigate the incident and haul the aircraft away.

While the firefighters were waiting for the plane's engine to sufficiently cool down, one of the firemen came over to the trio who were sitting/watching on the patio. (Still clothed while the firetruck was there.) As he approached, he congratulated, "You all did a marvelous job getting us to the scene in a timely manner. We just wanted to thank you."

Paul nonchalantly replied, "It was the least we could do to help."

"Are the pilot and passenger going to be okay?" Cat curiously begged in concern. "It was so scary."

The fireman smiled and answered the redhead, "Apart from a few bumps and bruises and a broken bone or two, they'll be fine. You did a great job directing us into the field." He turned to Tori and added, "And you did a _fantastic_ job tearing down the fence so we could get close to the scene."

"Thanks," the brunette nervously chuckled as she reached down and absently rubbed the gash she'd received in the act. "I just wish the wire didn't cut_ me_ after I cut_ it_."

Concerned, the firefighter knelt down, examined the wound and said, "That's not too bad, but you may want to have a doctor look at it." He curiously begged, "When was the last time you had a tetanus shot?"

"Tetanus shot?" Tori yelped in dismay. She anxiously fired off, "I don't think I've ever had a tetanus shot-do I need one-what's a tetanus shot?"

Paul cut in on the conversation as he said, "It's the logical thing to do. The fence _is_ fairly old and may be a bit rusty so we wouldn't want the wound to get infected." He turned to the firefighter and added, "I cleaned the cut while you were assisting the EMTs and checking out the plane, but I was also going to suggest she get the shot. Just in case."

The fireman turned to Tori and reassured her by saying, "You've probably already had a tetanus shot when you were six or seven years old. Most school systems in the U.S. inoculate the student at that time with a series of shots, and tetanus is normally included."

"Oh yeah," Tori nodded and absently rubbed her right arm where shots are normally administered as she remembered. "We did get some shots back in first grade."

Paul reasoned, "But that's been more than ten years ago so it means you should get a booster shot." He checked the time on a clock in the cabana he could see from where they were sitting, stood from his chair and said, "My regular doctor won't be in his office until Monday so it'll have to be done at the hospital. Let's go now and get it over with."

"I suppose," Tori whined as she accepted his hand and got up off the comfy lounge chair. "But I _hate_ needles."

The fireman stood and joked, "Well, you'll just have to endure it. You certainly don't want to get lockjaw. That'd end your singing career."

Tori's hands immediately went to the corners of her chin and practically screamed in panic, "Lockjaw!? What's that-can it happen?!"

Paul answered, "It's one of the early symptoms that indicates the tetanus bacteria is present. But it won't happen if you get the booster shot."

"Well, what are we waiting for," Tori anxiously yelled as she swiftly headed for the patio door. Half way there she stopped in her tracks, spun around and begged the firefighter as she walked back over to him, "Wait. How do you know about my singing career?"

The fireman hitched a thumb over his shoulder indicating his fellow firefighters as he said, "We watched your performance on the PMAs at the fire station last year and enjoy your music all the time. Perhaps you'd like to visit us while you're here in Montrose and we can give you the VIP tour."

Cat finally piped up from her lounge chair, "Can I come, too? I've never been to a fire station before."

"Of course you can," the firefighter answered with a broad smile. "You helped us out in getting to the scene of the crash, so you deserve to have the tour, too."

"That's good," Cat nodded before her face fell in contemplation and she said, "But I do have a medical question."

"What's your question?"

"Well I was wondering what happens if you get scared half to death twice in a row? Do you die?"

The firefighter quizzically looked at the young redhead like she was from another planet. Paul, who had already experienced a few of Cat's odd questions laughed and answered, "You don't need to worry about it, Cat. That's why people sometimes faint when they're scared. Fainting is the body's natural defensive reaction so it won't get scared to death."

"Oh! 'Kay-'kay," the redhead placidly answered and went into the house to get ready to head into town.

The fireman warily peered at the two other people on the pool deck and begged in confusion, "Is she for real?"

"Yeah," Tori laughed. "Cat comes up with some weird questions every once in a while but she's a great friend."

The other firefighters came over to get their comrade and went wild when they saw Tori. They asked her a lot of questions about her career and why she was here in Montrose. After she explained her and Cat's little vacation away from the glitz and glamor of the entertainment industry, the firefighters left needing to get back to the station in case another call came in. Well, that and they were due to get off their shift fairly soon and needed to make sure all of the equipment was ready for the next shift of firefighters.

Tori and Paul promised to visit the station and bid them farewell.


	10. Hospital and Celebration

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my fertile imagination.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 10

Hospital and Celebration

Xxxxxx

Tori Vega nervously sat in one of the waiting room chairs in the hospital emergency room as she filled out the registration form she was given when they'd arrived. Paul was amiably talking with the receptionist, both laughing and joking like they were old friends while Cat had disappeared, saying she was hungry again and was going to check out the vending machines if the cafeteria was closed. (Which it was at seven-thirty on a Saturday night).

Tori had just filled out the 'Next of Kin/Emergency Contact' portion of the form before a thought struck her. She had automatically filled in her parent's information but wondered if she should also put Mason Thornesmith's info in there, too. After all, if she were to suddenly become incapacitated her manager should be one of the people to find out right away. Shows might have to be canceled, the band and crew laid off etcetera, etcetera etcetera.

But then another idea struck her like a bolt of lightning. Maybe she should put Paul's information down somewhere on the form.

She and Paul Bowman were now... What? Dating? Boyfriend and girlfriend? She really didn't know what she could call their relationship that'd only started that afternoon. Tori could definitely see her and Paul someday getting married and her living on the ranch.

Tori sat up at that thought. She had only been in Montrose and known Paul for less than a week and she was already thinking about forever with the guy?

Tori suddenly realized that the idea didn't concern her too much. They'd only met five days ago but she felt like she knew him better than any of her other boyfriends she'd had during high school. Tori felt extremely comfortable when Paul was around and was growing to love Montrose Colorado like a second hometown. The people she'd met were very friendly, but not pushy like a lot of fans could be.

Yes, maybe someday in the near future she _would_ put Paul's information in the 'Next of Kin/Emergency Contact' box.

Anyway... Tori finished up the form and brought it over to the receptionist, a beautiful blonde that looked to be around the same age as Paul. She anxiously said, "Here you go," and handed the clipboard to the lady.

Paul snaked his arm around Tori's waist and said to her, "Tori, this is Janet, an old friend of mine. She was working at the hospital as a Candy Striper after the accident in Florida and helped me get back on my feet."

Tori immediately realized Paul was talking about _THE_ accident, the one were he had lost his parents and finacée, but something struck her as odd. Paul had moved from Florida to Montrose sometime after the accident so he wouldn't have met Janet in _this_ hospital, but probably in Venice Florida. Did Janet follow Paul here? Maybe she fell in love with Paul and moved to Montrose to sink her claws into him.

So maybe Janet was a gold digger or a _stalker?_

Jealousy reared its ugly head. Tori warily greeted the lady and went fishing for information as she nestled in to Paul's embrace, wrapping both of her arms around him, "Hi Janet. If you don't mind my asking, how did you get your job here at the hospital? I'm only asking because I love the town and wouldn't mind moving here myself in the future. If that happened, I wouldn't mind helping out here at the hospital when I can."

Paul immediately sensed Tori's potential jealousy in the question and how possessively she had her arms wrapped around him, but let his blonde friend answer.

Janet smiled at the brunette and said, "Oh, I grew up here in Montrose. I worked as a Candy Striper while attending college in Florida and after finishing, I moved back here because I just love the area." She slyly smiled as she saw the position the brunette was in, nestled in Paul's arms, and asked, "What drew you to the area? As if I couldn't guess."

"Actually," Paul took over the conversation, "I invited Tori and a few of her friends out here to get away from their careers for a little vacation."

"I'm a pop singer," Tori proudly tossed in.

"Wait!" Janet gasped as her eyes shot down to the paperwork Tori had just handed her and then quickly looked back at the lithe girl. "You're _that_ Tori Vega? I've listened to you on the radio, I just love your music. I especially like your song, **Make It Shine**."

"That was the song that got me into Hollywood Arts," Tori chuckled before she told the blonde receptionist about the time she'd helped her sister get ready for the Big Showcase at school, only to have Trina sabotage her own performance with a Chinese herb gargle that'd made her tongue swell. Tori had to reluctantly fill in for Trina and the rest, as they say, is history.

"I didn't know that," Paul laughed along with Tori and Janet at the story. "I always assumed you applied to get in like everyone else."

The happy mood was interrupted when a nurse came up to escort Tori to an examination room and Paul accompanied them. The nurse took Tori's vital signs, for the record, and then left to inform the doctor that the patient was ready to be treated.

When they were alone Tori anxiously asked her beau, "So, Janet is just a friend?"

Suspicions confirmed, Paul knew he had to nip Tori's jealously in the bud. Of course that didn't mean he couldn't play her a bit beforehand. He took her hands in his and sadly said, "I was in a deep, dark place after the accident, as you can imagine. Janet was there during my therapy and brought me back. I'm _extremely _grateful to her for that."

"So, why didn't you hook up with her then?" the brunette nervously questioned.

"Well, for one thing," Paul slyly said as his sadness slowly evaporated, "I'd just lost the girl I'd planned on marrying." His smile amped up a bit when he noticed the doctor entering the room and continued, "And second, Janet was engaged to her high school sweetheart and I'd never try to take another guy's girl from him. As a matter of fact..." Paul motioned to the doctor waiting just inside the door with a broad smile.

"What?" Tori queried as she turned and finally noticed the new person in the room.

"Good evening," the doctor said to Tori with a sly smile since he had heard the last part of the conversation. He extended a hand to shake and introduced himself, "I'm Dr. Gil Hotchkiss. I'm Janet's _husband."_

"Oh," Tori moaned, totally embarrassed.

But before she could shame herself further by blurting out an apology or something equally as lame, Tori was saved by the arrival of a very perky redhead. "There you are, Tori," Cat called out as she merrily skipped into the examination room. "I was wondering where you went."

"We were in the waiting room where you left us before being escorted to this room," Tori warily said, wondering if her friend was just having a normal 'Cat' moment. "Where have you been? I thought you were just checking out the vending machines down the hall."

"I did," the petite redhead giggled as she pulled a piece of candy out of her cleavage and popped it in her mouth. As she chewed the gooey gum drop, she continued, "Then I went and talked to those two guys from the airplane. We had a nice little visit."

Confused, Paul begged, "You were able to find the two men from the plane? This building is four stories tall and has seventy-five beds."

"I was talking to the nice lady at the front desk and she told me which room they were in," Cat answered with another giggle. She turned to her fellow singer and said, "They want to meet and thank you and Paul before they're released tomorrow. They're only being held overnight for observation and then they need to get to Grand Junction for a meeting on Monday. That's where they were heading when they crashed."

Dr. Hotchkiss had been examining Tori's leg and said, "I can take you to their room after we're finished here. I'd like to check on them once more before my shift is over."

The doctor questioned Paul about what he did to the wound while cleaning it. Paul told him that he'd simply washed it with a little soap and water before putting an antibacterial gel on it, and that he hadn't covered the wound because he knew he was going to bring Tori here to get it checked out anyway.

Then came the part of the treatment that Tori feared: The dreaded shot.

As the nurse came in with the hypodermic needle, Paul took Tori's hands in his, looked directly into her eyes and said, "You don't have to worry at all, it's just a simple shot."

"Yeah, but I really hate needles," Tori whined. "One time I had to give _three_ pints of blood one evening so our friend Robbie could have an operation."

Cat gleefully piped in, "He had a car parked in his butt."

"A car?" Dr. Hotchkiss questioned as he swabbed down Tori's arm with an antiseptic wipe.

Tori glanced over to the doctor and answered, "He swallowed a toy car when he was young and it finally worked its way to his lower intestines and lodged there. The doctor was worried that it might rupture his intestines so they were going to operate that same night."

"And you gave _three_ pints of blood?" the doctor indignantly begged. "An operation like that should've only required a pint, maybe a little more. What happened to the other two pints... And I hope they did something to replace that amount of blood loss. Three pints is almost _half_ the blood volume you have in your body."

"I'm not sure what happened to the first pint," Tori shrugged, only hearing that it had somehow disappeared. "The second pint broke open when Robbie dropped it and they had something they called a saline solution going into my other arm when I gave the second and third pints; And after all three times they made me drink a small juice box."

Paul gently squeezed Tori's hands to get her attention again as he said, "So you endured _five_ needles in one evening; The three for the pints of blood and two more for the saline solution. You must've been extremely brave that evening. If you endured five needles back then, you can certainly stand one little needle tonight."

"I don't know..." Tori warily started to say before the doctor stood back and announced, "All done."

Tori looked down at her arm and saw a small adhesive bandage in place where a shot would normally be given. While Paul had been talking to her, distracting her, Dr. Hotchkiss had administered the Tetanus shot and bandaged her up.

"Whoa," the brunette marveled with a light chuckle. "I didn't feel a thing."

After the nurse wrapped Tori's leg wound, Cat giddily led Paul, Tori and Dr. Hotchkiss up to the second floor room where the pilot and passenger from the light plane crash were being held overnight for observation. The perky redhead almost bounced into the room and yelled, "I'm back and I have visitors."

"_Caaaaat_," Tori quietly but firmly chided her friend as she entered the room. "You need to keep your voice down. We're in a hospital."

"Oops, sorry," Cat giggled to the brunette singer before she turned once again to the occupied beds, raised her arms like she was going to yell again and enthusiastically whispered, "I'm back and I brought my friends you wanted to see." The interaction between the two girls brought smiles to everyone else.

After Dr. Hotchkiss check over the two men, he departed telling Paul that they should all get together sometime soon. Paul agreed and explained to Tori and Cat that the doctor was finishing up his internship at the Florida hospital and was one of the doctors who treated him after the accident.

The pilot and passenger thanked the three locals, they assumed, for getting help so quickly. The pilot had thought that since they were crashing so far out of town that help would've been a long time coming.

Xxxxxx

As Tori, Cat and Paul neared the SUV in the hospital parking lot, ready to head back to the ranch, the petite redheaded singer suggested, "I think we should go out and celebrate a job well done."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, Cat," Paul nodded as he unlock the vehicle and slipped into the driver's seat. He waited until the two girls were seated and the passenger door was closed before he continued, "But you know you'll probably be recognized wherever we go. Do you mind if that happens?"

"I think I up for a little notoriety," Tori said as she slid up close to Paul on the wide beach seat. "We've spent practically the whole trip so far at the ranch and haven't seen any of the town except for the airport and two stores. Besides, I could use a drink right about now."

"Okay," Paul smiled as he started the silver SUV. "And I know just the place to celebrate."

Xxxxxx

Tori was a bit surprised when Paul stopped only a few block from the hospital. There was off-street parking on one side of the small, single story building and an alley behind, but what was odd about the place was that the other two side were closed in with a four foot high wooden fence. Above the fence one could see a few large, strategically placed umbrellas and a tree to shade the outdoor tables.

"Why is it named after an insect?" Cat curiously begged as she got out of the SUV and pointed to the sign above the door. It read, **Horsefly Brewing Company**.

Tori also noticed the sign denoting the establishment's name and asked, "And why is it called a brewery? It doesn't look like it's large enough to have any brewing vats and such. I got a chance to tour one of the breweries when I did a couple shows in Milwaukee and those vats were _huge."_

"Well," Paul answered as they walked over to the fenced in areas and took a seat at one of the open outdoor tables, "the story goes that they wanted to name it after something local. When they had trouble spelling Uncompahgre, they decided to name it after one of the local mountains, Horsefly Peak, which has an elevation of just over ten thousand feet."

He turned to Tori and continued, "And it's a microbrewery, something Colorado is famous for. There are over two hundred of them in the state and three or four of them are here in Montrose." He noticed one of the waitresses coming their way and asked, "Now, do you want to try one of their microbrews or would you like something else to drink?"

Cat had discovered one of the menu cards on the table and her face lit up as she read it and said, "Oh! I wanna try a Jazzy Razzy that has just a hint of raspberry taste." She pulled a wisp of her long, red velvet hued locks in front of her face and marveled, "I bet it'll be the same color as my hair!"

"I don't know what looks good," Tori whined after getting the menu card from her friend and glancing over it.

Paul took it from his girlfriend's hand, turned to the waitress and ordered, "I'll have a twenty ounce Highland Scottish." He pointed first to the magenta hue-haired girl and then to Tori as he continued, "Cat will have a sixteen ounce Jazzy Razzy and make it a Bug-Eyed Blond for Tori, same size."

The waitress wrote down the orders and asked, "Would you like anything to eat?"

Tori and Cat had scooted together to look over the appetizers and food that was available on another menu card. The brunette slowly shook her head and said, "It all looks so good but I'm not really that hungry."

Cat handed the menu to Paul as she pulled another gum drop from her cleavage and said, "Me too. Why don't you decide what to get us."

Paul set the menu down on the table, turned back to the waitress and said, "We'll have an order of Beer Battered Mushrooms, some of Phil's Hoppin Buffalo wings and an order of Rocky Mountain Oysters with ranch dressing, please."

"Okay," the waitress said as she finished writing up the order. "I'll be right back with your drinks." With that, she turned and walked back into the restaurant.

"That's a lot of food," Tori marveled to her new beau.

"It's okay," Paul laughed as he leaned back in his chair. He had noticed two men he recognized walking toward him before placing the food order. "I think we're about to get a little help eating it." He stood up when the men arrived and introduced everyone, "Cat Valentine and Tori Vega, this is Fire Chief John Cedar, and you may remember Frank Cross from earlier."

"Oh my gosh!" Cat squealed in delight as she quickly got up and wrapped the younger man in a hug. "You were the fire-guy at the plane crash who talked to us!"

Frank was a little taken aback by the bubbly redhead's forward greeting, but quickly recovered and laughed, "That's me." When Cat released him, he motioned to the other man and said, "And this is my boss."

As pleasantries were exchanged between Tori and the two men, Paul moved his chair closer to Tori's and motioned for them to sit.

The Fire Chief complimented the trio on assisting with the plane crash so professionally, then, after the drinks were served, (John and Frank already had theirs in hand when they came over to the table,) he got down to the subject he wanted to talk about. He looked to Tori and stated, "I understand you're a famous singer."

"I don't know if I'd call myself _famous_ just yet," Tori blushed at the compliment, "but I'm getting there."

"Don't be so modest," Paul playfully chided the brunette as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You opened the Platinum Music Awards show, your first album is selling extremely well and your shows are always sold out. I'd say that puts you in the famous category."

"Well, thanks," Tori blushed and snuggled into her new boyfriend's embrace. "But I think you might be just a teensy bit biased." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek in gratitude.

"Wait a minute," Frank jumped in, pointing to the couple. "You two are a couple already? I thought Tori only came out here for a little vacation." That was something Tori and Paul had explained to all of the firefighters before leaving for the hospital.

"Yeah, actually we realized we really like each other a lot just today," Tori's blush deepened as she wrapped both of her arms around Paul. "And I could really get used to the country lifestyle: The fresh air, the horses and all that goes with them. Montrose is a great little town."

"Anyway," Chief Cedar jumped in, trying to get back to what he wanted to talk about and went with the opening Tori had given him. "Since you like our little community so much, would you consider helping out with a good cause?"

"Um, sure," Tori noncommittally shrugged. She sat up when the waitress brought out their food. "What do you have in mind?" She picked up one of the breaded mushrooms and bit into it, letting out a yummy sound when she discover she really liked the taste while Cat tested out the other two appetizers. (The redheaded singer had let out a screech of distress when she tried the extremely hot, hot wings and promptly downed half of her beer, causing the others to laugh.)

"One of our fellow firefighters was killed while working a wildfire last fall and we're setting up a trust fund for his son," Frank explained after Cat had settled down and started on the other appetizers. "We're putting on a little fund-raising concert next weekend at The Pavilion, just a few local bands are playing, and I was wondering if you would sing a few songs? We wouldn't be able to pay you anything but your name would certainly draw a bigger crowd."

"Well," Tori mulled it over for a few seconds before she slowly nodded. "I'd have to check with my manager before I can commit but I don't see why I shouldn't be able to."

"Perhaps," Paul jumped in with an idea, "you could sell some of Tori's CDs at the concession stands and split the profits?" He turned to Tori and added, "I'm sure Mason would go for that idea. Plus, performing would get your name out there in this area. I'm sure most of the teens know who you are but a lot of adults might also like your music enough to buy it."

"Yeah," Tori giggled. "I'm sure Mason would agree to that. He'd jump at any chance to increase sales." She checked her PearPhone for the time and groaned, "But it's already a little past eight o'clock and he heads home at eight so he wouldn't be in his office. I won't be able to check with him until Monday."

"But we're in the Mountain Time Zone here, not the Pacific Time Zone," Paul pointed out. "So it's just past _seven_ in Los Angeles."

"Oh, that's right," the brunette said in realization. She quickly dialed and immediately recognized the British accent when the call was answered and said, "Hey Chelsea, it's Tori. There's gonna be a charity concert next week for a local firefighter who was killed on the job and they're asking if I could participate." She nodded briefly when Mason's assistant said something, but then frowned and answered, "I don't know."

Paul reached over and said, "Let me talk to her. I might be able to explain things better since I know a little bit about the event and where it's being held."

"Oh, okay," Tori chirped and turned back to the phone conversation. She said, "Here's someone who can answer your questions." She handed Paul her PearPhone.

The redheaded rancher stood and started to walk away from the table for a bit of quite as he said, "Hi Chelsea, my name is Paul. Tori is staying with me during her vacation. Now, what do you need to know?"

Tori tried to listen in on the phone call but Paul was far enough away that she couldn't hear what he was saying. Cat also took the opportunity to pipe in as she pushed one of the appetizer baskets over to the brunette and squealed in delight, "You gotta try these, Tori. They're absolutely delicious!"

"What are they?" Tori questioned as she picked up one of the round breaded things in the half full basket, dipped it in the ranch dressing and took a bite."

"Those are the Rocky Mountain Oysters," the bubbly redhead perked. She turned to the two firemen and said, "But I didn't know they raised oysters here in Colorado. I thought they could only be found in the ocean."

"Yeah," Tori piped in as she finished chewing one of the breaded 'oysters' and started on another. "I thought they were salt water things."

John Cedar held back a laugh as he answered, "They're not really oysters, that's just what they're called." The Fire Chief may have been holding in his laughter but Frank couldn't. Actually, he'd fallen out of his chair and was rolling on the ground, laughing his head off.

Neither of the two girls could figure out what was so funny. Curious as always, Cat begged, "Then what are they? They're great! I gotta know!"

"Well," the chief started, trying to find a delicate way to put it, "out here in Colorado we raise a lot of sheep. In order to control breeding and make the males a little more docile, they... _castrate_ them. The testicles are then breaded and deep fried. They're considered a real delicacy."

"These are sheep balls?!" Cat yelped in shock, holding one of the breaded items out away from her and stared wide-eyed at it. Her loud outburst caught the attention of the other patrons on the patio and most of them snickered at the redhead, knowing what she was talking about.

"Usually sheep, but sometimes horse, bull or pig," John Cedar answered with a light laugh. Like the other patrons, he had seen that same astonished reaction from quite a few tourist over the years who didn't know what they were eating until someone told them.

Tori simply shrugged a shoulder as she looked over the 'oyster' in her hand and said, "Actually, they _are_ very good. I wonder if they serve them anywhere in Hollywood?"

"Yeah," the little redhead said in sudden realization as she took a small bite of the one in her hand. "I bet they'd be a big hit at Karaoke Dokie."

Paul returned to the table, handed the closed phone back to Tori with a huge smile and said, "Mason is thrilled that you would like to do a charity concert. He said the positive publicity would more than make up for the lack of pay."

"Yeah, that sounds like Mason," Tori chuckled. "He's usually more interested in my image and the bottom line than anything else, and getting my name out there would help with that."

Paul took his seat, turned to the two firefighters and added, "Mason also said he'd immediately ship out a thousand CDs right away to sell at the concert. I told him that the Pavilion only seats 600, but he said that maybe she could do a signing at the music stores in the area to increase sales and awareness of the concert."

"That might not be a bad idea," Chief Cedars said with a slight nod while appearing to be in deep thought. "The concert isn't selling very well right now. With Tori's name behind it, we should do a lot better in ticket sales. I'll tell the local media about the change of lineup when I get a chance on Monday."

Paul chuckled and waved him off as he said, "You don't need to worry about that. Mason is sending out a press release to them as we speak. He wanted to include the Denver and Salt Lake City media but I reminded him of the seating capacity at The Pavilion and he decided to only notify the local Montrose and Grand Junction media."

Tori grumbled, "It's beginning to sound like Mason thinks that I'm headlining the show." She brightened with an idea and added, "Maybe Cat could sing a song or two, too."

"Yea, I love to sing," Cat cheered, both fists raised in the air. She turned to Paul and asked, "But can we get some more Rocky Oysters?" She snatched up the empty basket, showing it to everyone and said, "These are all gone."


	11. A New Arrival

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my unhinged imagination.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 11

A New Arrival

Xxxxxx

Sunday morning breakfast was interrupted by a phone call. One of the local radio stations wanted to do an interview with Tori that morning which would run live, regarding the benefit concert, then snippets of the interview would be used for the rest of the week to promote the show. (Paul had given Chelsea his cellphone number as a local contact for the media release. That's how the radio station knew who to call to set up the interview.)

The brunette singer was well at ease during the interview having done quite a few during her tour. Tori mentioned that she simply loved the town, that she was even thinking of maybe moving there sometime in the future, and that the locals had been more than friendly during her brief vacation; That those were some of the other reasons she wanted to help out with the event beside it being for a very worthy cause.

As Paul, Cat and Tori left the radio station, Paul got a phone call asking him to bring Tori over to the local music store.

When they arrived, they noticed that a crowd had gathered outside the store and a man wearing the normal green vest of an employee was waiting for them.

"Hi, my name is Fred Soprano, I'm the manager," he introduced himself, shaking the two girl's hands. "I know this is short notice but people heard your interview this morning and immediately started showing up to buy your music. Luckily, we somehow received a large, overnight shipment of your CDs. I'd hoped, since you were already in town, that you wouldn't mind doing a brief meet-and-greet signing with the crowd."

"Wow," Cat marveled as she looked over the large gathering of maybe a hundred people, mostly teens but quite a few adults, standing in line. "Word really spreads fast around here, doesn't it?"

"It seems so," Tori said, stunned that her manager would've wanted this to happen so soon. She turned to Mr. Soprano and said, "I'd love to but I'm not really dressed to meet my fans." She motioned to what she was wearing: Tan cargo shorts, a simply western plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and a sturdy pair of hiking boots on her feet. (All items she'd bought in Ridgway.) She hadn't expected to run into many fans while in town and had dressed down for the radio interview. Normally she would meet her fans dressed in one of the glittery costumes she wore on stage.

Paul stepped in and said, "What you're wearing is fine. The casual attire you're wearing simply sez that you've already adapted to the local style of dress and that you're, like, one of them; Just like you'd mentioned in the interview."

"I like that," Tori smiled at her beau, his explanation putting her mind at ease with the situation. "Okay, let's go."

Mr. Soprano started leading the trio into the store but also mentioned to the redheaded girl, "We also got in a shipment of your music, Miss Valentine, so we'd like you to participate, too."

"But my CD isn't suppose to come out for another month or two," Cat yelped in shock. "I haven't even recorded anything yet." (Cat was suppose to record her first album when she returned from her vacation, her manager being the cautious type and wanting to let Cat's name get out there before incurring the expense of producing an album.)

Fred pulled said CD from a pocket of the vest and showed it to the petite velvety-redheaded girl as he answered, "I wouldn't know about that but here it is."

Cat looked over the jewel case paying close attention to the list of songs on the back cover and gasped, "This is all music from my live concerts."

Tori took the CD from Cat and looked it over. She smiled and said, "Yeah. I guess Mason wanted to make a few extra buck because you're out here with me."

Xxxxxx

The meet-and-greet went well. Despite it being hastily set up, it was well organized and the fans in line didn't cause any problems. They simply waited for their turn to meet the two singers. After a little less than two hours the crowd had finally thinned down to only a few people left, and those were met and quickly sent on their way.

As the last customers went on their merry way, complete with a signed CD, Tori sat back in her chair and let out a tired breath as she half-enthused, "I usually don't like these sessions but this one wasn't so bad."

"Yeah," the always bubbly redhead agreed. "When I do one of these in a big city, the people always want so much from you: Autographs, pictures, and then they want you to hear their life story or listen to their demo tape. These people were nice and friendly and only wanted to meet us."

"You're absolutely right," Tori yelped in sudden realization. She couldn't even guess how many demo tapes she or one of Mason's assistance had tossed in the trash after an autograph session in one of the big cities when she'd been on tour.

Cat lightly giggled and started to say, "Maybe..."

The petite singer was interrupted when Fred Soprano came over and gushed, "Thank you, thank you _thank_ _you_ for doing this on such short notice. We completely sold out of both of your albums, just barely having enough for everyone who attended. I'll need to reorder right away."

The Store Manager quickly left leaving Tori, Cat and Paul sitting there at the table that'd been set up for the session.

Paul turned to the redhead and asked, "You were saying before the interruption?"

"Oh," Cat giggled again and said, "I was just thinking that it might be better to have our managers book all of our gigs in small towns instead of the big cities so that all of our autograph sessions are like this one."

"Cat!," Tori immediately chided, upset that her friend would only want to book their gigs in places where all of the people were nice to them. Then she thought about it for a quick second and wryly chuckled, "Actually, that might not be such a bad idea if we didn't want to become international, superstar pop sensations."

They all enjoyed a laugh at the thought before Paul queried, "Are either of you hungry?"

"Ooooo, I am!" Cat quickly yelled and raised her hand like she was still in school. (Old habits dies hard.) She quickly suggested, "Can we get some Mountain Oysters?" messing up and shortening the name for a second time in less than a day.

Paul laughed at the petite redhead's love of the unusual food item but said, "I was thinking more along the line of either burgers or Oriental."

The girls decided that they hadn't had Oriental in a while so Paul took them to a small, family-run Chinese restaurant located across the street from the town's high school. Both girls were simply stunned when they had their first bit, noticing that the meal here was _so_ much better tasting than anything Mrs. Lee ever served in either of her two restaurants: Wok Star or Nozu.

After the meal, Tori climbed into the back seat of the red topless Jeep (the gas tank had almost been empty when they arrived at the music store but Paul had taken the time to fill it while Cat and Tori were meeting their public) and immediately began to strip out of her boots, socks, shorts and shirt without thinking about it. Paul saw what the brunette was doing and said, "Um, Tori, not that I mind but, don't you think you should wait until we're at least out of town before you get naked?"

"Oh my God," Tori yelped while blushing a deep, fire engine red. She hadn't quite gotten her shirt unbuttoned all the way yet so she quickly yanked the hem down to cover her bare waist. "I wasn't really thinking."

"I know what you mean," Cat yelped in shock. The two other people in the vehicle saw the redhead with her sandals off along with her short denim shorts down around her ankles.

Tori nervously laughed while looking around to see if anyone had noticed what was happening in the restaurant's open parking lot. She chuckled, "I guess Cat and I are totally comfortable living the Naturist lifestyle now."

"I guess you are," Paul laughed along, Cat joining them immediately in the joke. He sarcastically quipped to the brunette, "Well, let's get back to the ranch so you can take off that _extremely_ uncomfortableshirt."

On the way home, Tori got a phone call from Mason Thornesmith stating that she and Cat would have another autograph session tomorrow at one of the music stores in Grand Junction, about an hour's drive north of Montrose. Tori told her manager about the sold out autograph session, which absolutely thrilled the record company executive, and asked him to text her the deets for tomorrow's session.

Xxxxxx

Tori finished up her business in the upstairs bathroom then tossed a cup full of composting material in the bowl before cranking the handle six times to mix the contents in the Eco-friendly toilet. She suddenly stopped when she realized just exactly what she had automatically done without even thinking about it.

She'd used the composting toilet without thinking about the proper procedure for the slightly unusual bathroom appliance. She'd automatically rotated the barrel like it was second nature, like she'd used that kind of toilet her entire life. Both she and Cat had also started to strip out of their clothes in town after getting in the Jeep before heading back to the ranch.

Man! She truly _was_ becoming accustomed to living at the ranch with its own little different rules and procedures.

Tori let out a sweet smile at the thought. As comfortable as her life had been up to that point in Los Angeles she was really getting used to the differences that living in the countryside threw at her.

Out here at the ranch, the nearest neighbor was just a little over a half mile away instead of only a mere twenty or thirty yards from her parent's house. There were deer, rabbits, mice and other wildlife creatures practically just outside the front door instead of the occasional urbanized squirrel or filthy obnoxious pigeon in Hollywood. The indoor plumbing was different, there were hiking trails to walk and horses to ride close by and she was currently living in an area that had, _maybe_, twenty-five thousand people living there instead of in a city of millions. She could even ride the horses or hike the trails in the buff if she wanted to. (That is after making sure no one else was hiking the trails at the time.)

Of course there was also the fact that she'd fallen in love with the owner of the property.

That thought broadened her smile.

Tori knew this wasn't one of her usual crushes like she'd had with Danny or Ryder or even Steven Carson. Those were typical high school crushes where you thought he was 'The One' and you started to make silly plans to marry him and then have cute children because you were both gorgeous.

She'd broken up with Danny months before transferring to Hollywood Arts High School and her crush on Steven Carson had crashed and burned when she found out that he was two-timing her, with Carly Shay no less. Of course Ryder had only tried to hook up with her to get a good grade in their singing class, so she didn't even consider that as a romantic relationship.

Anyway, it was late Sunday night and time for bed. She and Cat needed to head up to Grand Junction tomorrow morning for another CD signing session while Paul had another school trip to attend to in town. She would dearly miss being with Paul tomorrow but he was needed by the bus company and she had to accept their separation.

Wow! Had it only been one day since she'd confessed her feelings for her host?

Had it only been less than a week since she and Cat had arrived at the ranch?

"_Time sure flies when you fall in love,"_ Tori thought as she washed her face and hands and brushed her teeth like she usually did before heading for bed.

Bed.

Last night Tori had automatically crawled into the bed she'd been using since arriving at the ranch. Now, she contemplated sneaking in through Paul's bedroom door and hopping into bed beside the bearded redhead.

Whoa! Where did that thought come from!?

She'd never fantasized about actually _sleeping_ with any of her other boyfriends before. Sure, she'd playfully talked with Steven Carson about their possible future children, but she'd never thought about the action that would lead up to said children.

Now she was contemplating the action without dreaming of the possible outcome.

This was all just too weird.

Tori decided it'd be best to talk to Paul first before sharing his bed. It was way too soon to start a sexual relationship with him so she headed for her bedroom and crawled under the covers.

Sleep came easily to the brunette. She was still exhausted from riding the horses twice, hiking and the excitement from the plane crash yesterday, (not to mention the two beers she'd consumed at **The Horsefly**,)and meeting her fans today at the music store had also tuckered her out.

Xxxxxx

Paul had already left for the bus barn when Tori and Cat came down for breakfast Monday morning. They found a note that said he'd gone in early because they needed him to drive a route for another driver who had called in sick.

Paul had also printed up a computer map with direction to the Grand Junction music store along with a few suggestions as to where they could eat and shop while in the small city situated one hour north of Montrose.

Tori could only smile at the thoroughness of Paul's helpfulness. He truly was a wonderful guy.

Putting that all aside, the two naked girls quickly scrounged up something to eat, noting that they'd have to stop at the grocery store for a new box of Coco Puffs since Cat finished off what little was left in the current box that morning.

When Cat went to wash her bowl and spoon in the sink, she stopped and asked, "Tori? Why is there meat here in the sink?"

"I don't know," Tori shrugged as she moved over to her friend with her own dirty dishes in hand and saw three T-bone steaks, individually wrapped in clear plastic wrap, sitting in the basin. The brunette picked up one of the steaks and discovered it was as solid as a rock and quite cold to the touch. The answer suddenly hit her. "Oh! These are frozen and Paul's letting them thaw for dinner."

"'Kay-'kay," the velvety red haired girl chimed, satisfied with that answer. "I guess if we're having steaks tonight, then we should only have salads or chicken for lunch."

"Or maybe," Tori slyly hinted to her girl friend with a coy smile, "we can find someplace in Grand Junction that serves Rocky Mountain Oysters."

"Yea!" Cat cheered and raced toward the garage. "Let's go!"

"Oh Caaaaat," the brunette musically called out to her friend, stopping the redhead in her tracks. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?" the velvet-hued haired singer question after turning to Tori.

Tori simply pointed to her friend's body. Cat looked down, harrumphed in resignation and nakedly stomped up the stairs to her room in embarrassment as she frustratedly queried, "Why do I keep forgetting to put on some clothes when we head into town?"

Tori followed her friend up the stairs and jokingly mumbled to herself, "I probably would have forgotten too if I didn't suddenly realize you were naked."

Xxxxxx

The CD signing went off without a hitch. The music store manager had hosted similar meet-and-greets before so he was well aware of what needed to be done. He'd laid on extra security to keep the customers in line and even provided refreshments for Tori and Cat during a short break in the four hour long session. (The session at the music store in Montrose hadn't lasted half as long so the break was welcomed by the two up-and-coming vocal stars.)

When it was all over, pleasantries were exchanged with the manager and his workers and the two teens took a chance at being recognized to wander around the mall for an hour where the music store was located. The only things Cat and Tori found to purchase in the huge building-dedicated-to-consumerism were some suitcases for the plane flight back to Los Angeles. (Well, Cat had also found a cute little purple and pink stuffed tiger in the toy store and just had to buy it.)

Not all that hungry after finishing their shopping, the pair drove back to Montrose and stopped at **The Horsefly** for a quick drink and a basket of 'oysters' for each of them.

The time spent at the brewery/bar/restaurant was enjoyable for the two singers. They were only bothered once by a small group of teens who recognized them, only asking for autographs and pictures before they left the pair alone to continue to relax.

As Tori was standing to leave, her cell phone rang. Paul was calling to tell them they had another guest to pick up at the airport but he wouldn't say who it was, only that they'd recognize the person and it would be a pleasant surprise.

Cat didn't know what to think but Tori had a fairly good idea just who would be flying in to visit. You see, Paul had mentioned he had sent the invitation to only five people, and four of them (she, Cat, Carly and Sam) had already shown up.

There was only one person it could be.

Xxxxxx

Cat and Tori stood in the airport concourse, outside the arrival area, and waited. As the passengers from the plane from Denver started to file in from the tarmac, one made her way for the exit instead of the baggage carousel. Tori smiled at her clever deduction.

Cat, on the other hand, saw the girl confidently strutting toward them with only a backpack hanging from one shoulder and loudly squealed, "Jade!" before she ran and launched herself into the arms of her long-time friend.

The dark haired actress lightly laughed as she returned the embrace with her magenta-hue haired girl friend as she said, "I guess you're happy to see me."

"We are," Tori replied as she got in a hug with her former rival/now friend after Cat released Jade from her attack. "But why are you here? I thought you had at least another month of shooting to do on your movie before you'd be free."

"Yeah," Jade let out a tired sigh as the other two led her out of the airport over to the Jeep. "But Jerry, the ganking idiot," she swore with a disgusted shake of the head, "the male lead on the movie messed up his hand when he decided to do his own stunt work. They've shut down production for a week or so until he can use it again."

"Well, at least they didn't scrap the movie because of the accident," Tori said as she climbed into the back of the red colored Jeep, allowing Cat to drive and Jade to have the passenger side front. All three girls had heard about a few other movies that had been permanently shut down when one of the stars was injured. How could they not have, living in the movie capital of the world? But sometimes it's better for the production company to take the loss than to spend a week or two to recast and then re-shoot while retaining the other cast members and the whole crew on full pay during the down time. (Unlike the time when Melinda Murray left the set of **Miss Fire** with an arrow in her hand and they recast the lead character. That incident was totally different since they had just started shooting the movie, Melinda would've been out of action for a lot more than just a week and nobody liked the obnoxious, egotistical star anyway.)

"They talked about it," Jade ceded, turning in her seat to face both Tori and Cat. "But they really love what's already been shot and it will only be a week to ten days, so they decided to wait for Jerry to heal."

"Oh," Cat perked up as she pulled the vehicle out onto the main street and headed back into town. "We need to stop at the grocery store for something while we're in town. Do you need anything special to eat, Jade?"

The brunette actress let out a light chuckle, then said, "Cat, you know I don't but I wouldn't mind stopping for a cup of coffee. The stuff they served on the plane was awful."

"Okay," Cat laughed in return as she headed for the grocery store where they'd first stopped when she and Tori got into town. "They have a coffee counter at the supermarket with a Barista and everything!"

Xxxxxx

The stop at the supermarket was brief. Jade immediately stopped at the small kiosk and bought her coffee and a blueberry scone while Cat and Tori headed for the cereal aisle. Tori picked out the box of her friend's favorite cereal. But when she turned to hand it to Cat, the redhead had disappeared.

The red velvet-hue haired girl met the two others outside at the Jeep later saying she'd gone to both the meat and seafood departments to see if they carried Rocky Mountain Oysters.

They didn't, much to the redhead's disappointment. (Cat had asked at the seafood counter because they were called 'oysters' after all.)

After heading out of town, Cat pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road and stopped. Jade, curious as to why, asked, "Cat, why did we stop here?"

"Oh. I just wanna get ready to head to the ranch," the redhead responded and promptly started to strip out of her shirt and short shorts.

"Cat!" the raven-haired actress practically yelled as she quickly glanced around the area making sure no one could see what her friend was doing. Jade turned to the taller girl in the back seat for help and saw Tori was already completely naked. "Tori! Are you trying to get arrested?"

"Don't worry about it, Jade," Tori waived off her friend's concerns as she finished folding her clothes, stuffed them in her new suitcase and leaned back into the seat. "We've only seen a couple of cars out this way the few times we've gone into town and if there are any, we're driving fast enough that they probably won't see that much."

Cat was already pulling back out onto the paved country road so Jade couldn't say anything else to her two girl friends. The wind whipping around them from the open top and the fact that Cat now had a country music station loudly playing on the radio precluded any type of conversation.

Of course when they were driving into the canyon, Cat let out a squeal of delight when a rabbit ran across the dirt road in front of them. Jade almost expected it from her child-like friend.

What she didn't expect was Tori letting out an equally exuberant, laughing call of "Bunny!" at the same time from the back seat.

When they arrived at the gate to the ranch, Tori hopped out of the back of the vehicle and opened it, allowing the Jeep through before closing the gate, waving them on and walking bare ass naked up to the garage.

As Jade got out of the vehicle she confronted her two friends. "I don't believe you two rode a coupla miles completely naked! What's happened to you? Neither of you would've tried that when we were at Hollywood Arts."

"There was never the chance to do it in Hollywood," Tori defiantly answered as she walked up to the kitchen door and led everyone in to the house after grabbing her new suitcase out of the back of the vehicle. "There are too many people who could see us if we tried in it L.A.. Out here in Montrose, there are a lot of open country roads where we can get away with it."

"It's fun," Cat gleefully added as she practically bounced into the house, her own suitcase, clothes and toy tiger in hand. "And the best part is I don't have to take a half hour to decide what to wear every morning when I get dressed." She dropped her new suitcase and other things, grabbed Jade's wrist and enthused, "Come on. I'll show you the rest of the house and then you can get naked too."

Of course the first thing Cat showed her friend was the toilet that didn't need any water.

Xxxxxx

After the tour, they left Jade to get settled in her bedroom. Tori went out to the garden to pull the few weeds that'd sprouted up while Cat playfully jumped into the pool. When Jade exited the house onto the patio, her redheaded friend was deeply disappointed.

"Jade. Why are you wearing all of that? You can get naked anywhere you want to here at the ranch."

Jade had walked out onto the deck wearing her black hued bikini, but also had on a black, gauzy long-sleeve shirt and pants set over it along with Cat's big floppy hat.

"You know I don't tan at all," Jade answered as she stopped poolside to talk to her friend. Hands on hips, she continued, "I always burn whenever we go to the beach and I can't show up on the set with a sunburn since the previous shots won't match. I can't be pale white in one scene and the next be sunburned."

"Oh. 'Kay-'kay," the redhead accepted the explanation and immediately went back to splashing and frolicking in the pool.

Jade spotted Tori doing something out in the garden so she walked out there and belligerently asked, _"What_ are you doing?"

"Pulling weeds," Tori nonchalantly answered before exiting the fenced off area and tossing the few weeds she'd pulled onto the composting pile. She pointed back to the garden and said, "Paul is growing tomatoes, green beans, corn and a few other things and he likes to keep the garden weed-free."

"But why are _you_ doing it?"

Tori set her arms akimbo, raised a petulant eyebrow and indignantly begged, "Shouldn't I help out my boyfriend with his household chores?"

"Boyfriend?!" the dark haired actress yelped in confusion, simply floored by her friend's question. "You and Paul are together? But you've only been out here for a week! What happened?"

"Oh," Tori chirped in embarrassment when she realized she and Cat hadn't told Jade anything about what had gone on at the ranch over the last week while staying there. They hadn't even blogged about their vacation other than when they first were flying out to Colorado, and that had only been a few lines about them going on vacation for two weeks. Both she and Cat had practically ignored their PearPhones other than answering the calls from their managers or Paul, and hadn't called any of their friends or family to talk about what they'd been doing.

Tori started walking back to the house and Jade followed as she said, "Well, it's quite a story..."

Xxxxxx

"So, you've fallen in love with the area and really like Paul," Jade recapped the last ten minute conversation as she and Tori sat in a couple of lounges out by the pool. Tori had led her into the garage and got another steak out of the chest freezer to thaw while explaining what had gone on over the last week before heading out to relax by the pool. Jade had patiently listened, only questioning the brunette singer about why the threesome from iCarly had to leave so quickly. Now they were sitting out next to the pool watching their red velvety-haired friend splash and play while continuing to talk.

"That about sums it up," Tori lightly laughed. "The area is simply beautiful and I love to ride and take care of the horses." A content smile shown as she softly added, "And Paul and I _really_ hit it off. I can see myself living here for the rest of my life in his strong arms."

"His strong _naked_ arms, you mean," Jade coyly replied with a hint of sarcasm. "I bet you're just horny and want to get him into bed."

While Tori and Jade's rivalry had ended after getting out of high school and them heading off on different career paths, the actress still had a wicked sense of humor and it came out in her verbal gibe.

But instead of a frantic denial like she expected, Tori simply laughed and said, "Maybe. We haven't gotten that far just yet but I can see it happening in the future."

"See what happening?" the redheaded girl begged as she hopped up out of the pool and walked the short distance to her two friends. "What are you two talking about?" She quickly shook herself like a dog, spraying water all over before grabbing a towel and starting to dry herself off.

"Cat!" Jade whined and tried to protect herself from the onslaught of droplets by holding her hands up between her face and her petite friend. "You're getting me all wet." Tori simply laughed at her two friend's interaction. Something she dearly missed over the past year.

"Isn't that what pools are for?" Cat innocently begged as she sat down next to Jade on the lounge chair. She suddenly shifted gears, like always, and said, "Oh, I know. We should go and tour the fire station. I wanna see Frank again. He's cute."

"Who's Frank?" Jade asked, forgetting about playing Tori and her new boyfriend.

Tori laid back in her chaise lounge and said, "Frank was one of the firefighters we met the other night during the plane crash." She noticed that the Cessna had disappeared and could only guess that the FAA had finished their investigation and removed the plane while she and Cat were in Grand Junction. Tori glanced over to the clock in the cabana turned to Cat and explained, "But we don't know if he's on duty and Paul will be getting home soon. Then we'll have dinner."

"Awww," Cat moaned in disappointment.

"We can check if Frank is working tomorrow," Tori reassured her girl friend. "If he is, we can go visit after we take Jade riding in the morning."

"Yea!" Cat cheered before her face scrunched up in concern. She whined, "But we should probably ride the horses _after_ we visit the fire station. Riding for a half hour really wiped me out the other day and I wanna be awake when I see Frank."

"You fell asleep after riding a horse for only a half hour?" Jade begged in confusion. Usually Cat would be a hyperactive whirlwind of activity for hours on end before the velvety redheaded girl would tucker herself out, so riding for only thirty minutes shouldn't have made her overactive friend sleepy.

A wistful gleam appeared in the redhead's eyes as she hugged herself and contently giggled, "Ooooh yea-aah."

Jade wasn't sure what brought on the extremely content reaction from her petite friend, and she wasn't sure if she really wanted to know. Tori could see the slightly apprehensive expression on Jade's face, leaned over and confided, "Don't worry about her. You'll find out what we mean tomorrow."

Paul showed up a few minute later and fired up the barbeque grill. When he went back into the house to prepare the rest of the meal, Tori followed him to help out. While the potatoes were being nuked in the microwave, the brunette singer and owner of the ranch talked about their budding relationship.

When Tori voiced her apprehension about the pain and discomfort she would experience when she lost her virginity, Paul assured her that he was still a virgin, despite his prior engagement to Kris and the joke about calling out the wrong name when they'd make love, and also wanted to hold off until the honeymoon. They kissed and cuddled a bit in the kitchen for a few minutes, content with their new understanding of their relationship, before quickly preparing a lettuce salad and taking it, the potatoes and all the fixings out to the patio.

After a good meal and a round of karaoke, they all adjourned to bed.

When the household has settled in for the night, Tori snuck out of her room, down the stairs and crept into Paul's bedroom. She slipped under the covers, nestled against his back and promptly fell asleep.

Paul was roused from his slumber when he felt the bed shift a bit and an arm drape itself across his torso. Despite his lack of full consciousness, he knew what was happening; That Tori had decided to sleep in his bed with him.

He laced his fingers with the hand draped over his chest and went back to sleep with a content grin.


	12. fakes

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my always slightly inebriated brain.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 12

Fakes

Xxxxxx

No one said a word at breakfast the next morning about Tori and Paul arriving in the kitchen hand-in-hand after leaving his bedroom. Jade had made it into the kitchen shortly after her redheaded friend so the new couple were the last to arrive. (Jade was used to getting out of bed before the Sun was up since she normally had to be at the studio extremely early for makeup and wardrobe.)

Jade was a bit confused and slightly stunned when Tori and Paul went right to work making breakfast, working like a well oiled machine without saying a word. Tori got the pans out of the cupboard while Paul grabbed the things that were needed from the refrigerator. She took the egg carton out of his hand and started to whip up some scrambled eggs as he moved to the counter to open a new package of bacon to fry. As Paul laid the bacon in the pan, Tori poured the beaten eggs into the other pan, then moved to the cupboard to get out the loaf of bread for toast. They continued to weave around each other like two professional dancers as Tori moved back over to stir the eggs in the pan after placing a few slices of bread in the toaster and Paul stepped around her to start slicing up some fruit on another part of the counter while the bacon started to fry.

Cat simply opened her new box of cereal and filled her bowl before splashing on some milk. She then sat down at the kitchen table with Jade and started to eat.

In short order, a breakfast plate was placed in front of the raven-haired actress and Paul and Tori took their seats with their own plates. As she picked up her utensils, Jade marveled, "Wow, Tori. You two looked like you've been working in the kitchen together for years."

"Really?" Tori nervously laughed as she glanced over to Paul who simply smiled at her with a sheepish, noncommittal shrug. Her anxiety immediately vanished from the look. She turned back to her friend and said, "I never even thought about what we were doing." Tori turned back to Paul, bashfully smiled and cooed, "But I can see us making breakfast together every morning for the rest of our lives."

Xxxxxx

Frank Cross, the firefighter, and the others _were_ working that day so the four (Paul, Tori, Jade and Cat) traveled out of the canyon to tour the firehouse. A few pictures were taken with the girls in various poses on the fire engine and dressed up in the fireproof gear during the tour and all had a good time.

Cat was a little disappointed when she found out that Frank was ten years older than she was, and _married _with one little girl_. _She wanted to find a love connection of her own in the small Colorado town, just like Tori had with Paul.

The petite singer was brought out of her funk when the firemen allowed her to yell "Movie!" in the now somewhat crowded fire station; An obvious twist on the dangerous old prank of yelling "Fire" in a crowded movie theater. (Don't try that old prank at home kiddies. You _will_ be arrested!)

While they were close to town, Paul took the three girls to The Pavilion to look over the venue for the charity event. Tori was surprised by the great acoustics in the small, six hundred seat theater and looked forward to singing there in a few days. Mason had overnighted some of Tori and Cat's music to use just in case any of the bands that were playing didn't know the tunes, and the theater manager was more than happy to let the two singers take the stage and rehearse. Jade reluctantly passed on performing, if only to save her voice for her blossoming film career.

When they returned to the ranch, Paul drove them directly out to the stable and all three girls striped down to their birthday suits before mounting up to ride bareback. Well, the raven-haired actress kept her long sleeved shirt on to prevent any burning on her arms.

While Jade found the ride extremely stimulating, just like her two friends, she didn't stay out in the Sun for very long fearing her face, body and hands would get sunburned. But the raven-haired girl totally agreed with Tori about finding an isolated place where she could ride in the buff when she got back to Los Angeles.

She also joked that maybe her next movie role could be in a Western with a _lot_ of bareback horse riding scenes in it. (Maybe even one where she had to escape on horseback without any clothes on.)

Xxxxxx

"Oh God," Tori moaned in sheer pleasure as she slowly rocked from side to side, letting the pulsing water jet work on her aching back muscles. "I forgot all about Paul having a jacuzzi out here next to the cabana."

"That's so true," Cat gleefully giggled as she compressed her clasped hands together to squirt small fountains of water up in the air in front of her. "I got so caught up playing in the pool all the time that I forgot it was here, too."

"That's understandable, Cat," Jade murmured to her cheery-hue haired friend as she laid back and relaxed against the side of the tub. "You're always so active that you need a big pool to satisfy yourself..." she turned to Tori and continued, "...And you've been more concerned with writing new songs for your next album and just relaxing in the Sun on your vacation."

"Yeah," Tori giggled as she settled in to relax, grabbed her plastic cup filled with ice and soda and took a sip before she continued. "But I don't need to worry about my second album anymore."

Jade sat up in confusion and asked, "What do you mean? Do you and André have the entire thing written already?"

"Oh, it's written," the brunette singer smugly answered, "but André didn't help me with any of it."

Jade leaned in closer to her now-friend in the jacuzzi out of shock and curiosity as she begged, "So, what? You wrote it all yourself? All ten or fifteen songs?"

Cat gleefully answered as she started to bob up and down in the bubbling water, "No she didn't."

Jade waited for Cat to continue but the perky redhead simply bobbed a couple more times before she completely submerged under the foamy, turbulent water. Jade only waited a moment for her friend to emerge before she turned to Tori for the explanation.

As the brunette singer took a breath to explain everything, Cat popped up from underwater with arms raised in triumph and shrieked in glee, "Paul has enough original songs for _ten whole albums!_"

"Cat!" Jade screamed as she ducked back against the side of the tub and held her arms up to protect herself from the splashing, giggling redhead while Tori simply laughed at her fellow singer's antics and Jade's distress.

"Cat-Cat-Cat-Cat-Cat!" the dark-haired actress rapidly fired off as she reached out and grabbed the redhead's arms to wrangle Cat down to a sitting position. After a minute, the velvety redheaded girl finally settled down enough for Jade to ask, "What do you mean 'Paul has enough _original_ songs for ten whole albums'?"

"Well," the redhead took a second to consider what she was about to say before answering, "Paul's parents were in a Pop/Rock band and his mom wrote a bunch of songs that they never got to use."

"But if they never used them," Jade reasoned, "then the songs probably weren't good enough to be performed in public."

"Oh, they're good enough," Tori complacently replied. The self-satisfied smile on her face threatened to split her head in half. She coyly continued, "As a matter of fact, most of my second album will be those songs and Cat's gonna use a few that go well with her style of singing."

"Okay," Jade tentatively replied as she shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that both Tori and Cat thought that Paul's mother's music was good enough for them. She knew both of her friends knew how to write a fairly decent song. They had both done so multiple times at Hollywood Arts and afterward to kick off their careers. Jade was still a bit at sea so she could only voice the one question that needed answering. "So, why didn't Paul's parents use the music for their band?"

"Oh!" Cat squeaked and immediately became somber like she'd just heard some terrible news.

Tori's smugness suddenly disappeared as she stared down at the whirling, bubbling water and soberly stated, "Well the band, '**Sheep without Fences'**, never became popular. But his mom and dad moved behind the scenes before Paul was born and continued to work in the music industry. They died a few years ago in a car crash... along with Paul's fiancée at the time, Kris, so the music was never used by anyone."

Cat gloomily said, "Kris was gonna use some of them to kick off her own singing career, but she died in the accident so..."

The three girls sat back in the tub, brooding over that bit of information. They were broken out of their deliberations when Paul came out of the house and walked over to the jacuzzi, asking, "How are you three doing? You should probably get out of the jacuzzi soon. You've been in there for close to a half hour."

"That's so true," Cat anxiously yelped as she practically leapt from the tub. She slyly glanced over to her dark-haired, long-time friend and quickly added, "Especially when your pretending to be witch's soup."

The three girls laughed at the inside joke, remembering back to the party at Kenan Thompson's house two years or so ago when Jade and Beck used the jacuzzi there and the actress had said she liked to pretend witches were using her to make soup in their caldron.

Paul didn't get the joke, not having attended the party, but he could imagine what they were joking about now that he'd witnessed Cat's strange ways over the last week.

"Anyway," the redheaded young man said, turning to his girlfriend, "I was wondering if you were still interested in finding out what I meant up on the hiking trails when I mentioned I could show you how to have a little fun with the fake pictures of you on the web."

"Oh yeah," Tori nodded as she dried herself off then picked up her plastic cup of Peppy Cola from the side of the tub. "I _would_ like to know what you meant."

"What are you talking about," Jade curiously begged as she retrieved her wine glass, also made out of plastic, from the rim of the tub. "And why did you put my wine in a _plastic_ wine glass?"

"Because any cool, thin glass that might fall into the jacuzzi would instantly shatter in the extremely hot water," Paul answered as he led the three into the house and to his bedroom.

"And Paul's talking about the faked nude pictures on the web of all the celebrities," Tori continued his explanation. "He hinted that I might be able to have some fun with them."

Paul led the three into his bedroom. Cat was a bit anxious entering the room, having remembered his warning to stay out when she and Tori had first arrived, but after Tori and Jade followed Paul into the room, she quickly scampered in after them.

Paul sat down at his desk and booted up his computer. While it was cycling up, he explained, "Most all of the fakes on the web are a composite of a celebrity's face or head superimposed on someone else's naked body." He turned to the computer and brought up a bookmarked site dedicated to celebrity fakes. He paged through a few examples as he continued, "As you can see, most are pretty good."

"Whoa," Cat marveled as she gazed at the pictures on the screen. She suddenly became pensive as she begged, "But how can you tell if they're fakes or not. Couldn't some of them be real?"

"There are a few hints that tell they're fakes. The breasts or body might be the wrong size, there might be a tattoo that the celeb doesn't have or the hair color is all wrong. One of the main tells is when the face or head doesn't look like it fits the body."

"Like that last one?" Jade queried.

Paul returned to the previous pic, looked at it for a second and nodded, "Exactly, good catch. On this one, the face is slightly disproportional to the head and body. That usually happens when they use poor software that can't re-size the face properly."

"So," Tori started as she stood up from her crouched position from looking over Paul's shoulder, "what can we do to have a little fun with this?"

"Well," Paul said as he turned in his seat to face the three girls, a sly smile gracing his face, "you _could_ make your own fakes but Cat hit on what I was going to suggest."

"I did?" the redheaded girl gasped in confusion. "What did I say?"

"I was going to suggest that we take actual nude photos and manipulate them a bit to make them _look_ like fakes, then post them as such."

"Wickedly clever," Jade enthused with an evil grin, showing her approval of the plan.

Jade took a few solo pictures of the two singers out by the pool using a very nice digital camera Paul had supplied for the project. (Jade had paid close attention when her boyfriend, Beck Oliver, had taken a photography course at Hollywood Arts, so she knew what she was doing.) After uploading the pics onto Paul's computer, they went to work doctoring them with a special program he had previously installed.

Cat took one of her pics, enlarging the boobs to monstrous proportions and added a tattoo with one word on each of the breasts that said 'Got Milk'. On another pic, Cat's skin tone was lightened to the point where she almost seemed to be an albino and changed her hair color and style so that she appeared to be a curly headed platinum blonde. (Think Marilyn Monroe)

Tori then went to work on two of her own photos. On the first, she changed her hairstyle to a short bob cut and added tattoos from her shoulder all the way down to her wrist on both arms. For the second, Tori simply enlarged her face a bit to make it seem disproportional to the rest of her naked body making it look like a fake.

Paul approved of the four pictures even though they weren't up to par compared to the others on the web since this was only their first try at manipulating photos. He vowed to send the four pics off to a web friend of his who could 'touch them up a bit' and then post them. (A few of Tori's added tattoos continued off her arm so that needed to be cleaned up.)

While Paul was sending the photos off to his internet friend, Tori fantasized about the possibility of other naked pics she could alter and pass off as fakes.

Maybe a few of her nakedly making love with Paul?

Xxxxxx

The rest of the evening went well, except when Jade received a call from her manager and found out that the studio would start shooting again on Monday; That Jerry's hand would be functional enough to get by and start up production again. The raven-haired actress wasn't too upset about the shortened vacation. She'd quickly discovered that the country lifestyle just wasn't for her. (Except for riding the horses bareback and naked.)

Cat _was_ a bit upset when she found out her friend needed to head back to Hollywood on Sunday, but the redhead seemed to snap out of it when she noticed a dozen deer in the pasture and asked Paul, "How do they get the deer to cross the highways at those yellow signs?"

Xxxxxx

On Thursday, the teens headed into town and toured both the Chipeta Indian and Montrose County museums. Tori wanted Paul to join them but he was called in to drive a school bus in the morning. He vowed to try and catch up with them at some point but the bus drivers had their monthly 'safety meeting' after the morning run and that would add at least another hour and a half to his morning of work.

Tori wasn't too upset with Paul's part-time job. After all, he was helping the schools by performing a vital job, getting the children to school or home on time, or taking them on educational field trips. She couldn't be upset with her boyfriend if he wanted to spend a small amount of time helping out the community.

Paul was able to catch up with the three girls for lunch. Cat had persuaded Jade to try the Rocky Mountain Oysters and the outré actress was highly intrigued and readily agreed when she found out exactly what they were. Unfortunately Paul couldn't have his normal beer with the exotic treat since he would be driving the school bus later on in the afternoon so Tori sympathetically abstained from any alcohol. (But the burgers and sandwiches, hot off the grill, were excellent and more than made up for it.)

The three teens returned to the ranch after lunch to ride the horses. Jade totally stripped down this time having bought a bottle of ultra high SPF sun block in town. (Just after she'd purchased her much needed cup of coffee on their way back to the ranch.) While she and Cat hit the pasture on horseback, Tori set about filling the watering trough and laying out some hay before she joined them in the pasture on the back of Lady.

Friday found the foursome at the Pavilion most of the day doing sound checks and meeting the other bands that were going to play the next evening for the benefit concert. None of the three groups that were scheduled could play Tori's and Cat's music without any mistakes so it was decided that the girls would use the taped music that Mason had sent earlier in the week.

One band, however, thought it might be fun if the girls would join them in a song or two. Tori readily agreed when she found out they were a tribute band for the progressive rock group **Pink Floyd**. The brunette had gotten hook on their music when her parents would occasionally play it late in the evening while relaxing after a hard day at work. The highly melodic, if not slightly psychedelic, lyrics and guitar riffs had drawn her in. She agreed to sing the leads on **Comfortably Numb **and a abbreviated version of **Shine on You Crazy Diamond**. (Not the twenty-five and a half minute long version, but a shorter one that ran only ten minutes.)

Paul argued that his girlfriend should sing **Money **but was vetoed when the band said that wasn't in their repertoire since they couldn't figure out how to incorporate the sound effects of cash registers and adding machines at the appropriate time during the song. (Paul offered to help them out at a later date, after the concert.)

Tori asked why he suggested that particular song and Paul said that it now fit her so well; That she had all of her newly gained wealth from the music industry and it was plentiful enough that she could buy a personal jet or a football team.

Of course Jade had to be a gank and spoil the joke by reminding Paul that **Pink Floyd** was a _British_ band, and that when they referred to a football team they actually meant a soccer league club like they had in England. (Jade knew that Tori didn't like soccer, or sports in general, _that_ much.)

Cat, on the other hand, hadn't heard of the late 60's early 70's group, but was entranced when the three backup singers started to individually vocalize the lead guitar's part during a rehearsal. She was given a chance to try herself and the band decided that Cat would handle one of the vocalizations for the song, **The Great Gig In The Sky**.

What really sealed the deal for the two young singers was that the band's lead singer had been the deceased firefighter whom the concert was created to honor. Being in the band was just the diversion he had needed to offset the sometimes stressful life of a fireman.

Tori and Cat were able to practice when they got back to the ranch. (Jade was still a bit surprised when _both_ Cat and Tori gayly called out "Bunny!" when a rabbit crossed their path on the gravel road, but inwardly smiled at her two friend's exuberance, nonetheless.) Paul set up the karaoke machine so they could run through the songs a few times while Jade and he watched and made comments on the two girl's performances. Jade's comments were a bit snide toward Tori but the brunette singer knew that the actress was probably a bit jealous for not being able to take part in the concert and was just venting her frustrations. (Well, that and it was Jade's normal demeanor.)

When Jade finally relented and got up to duet with Cat and sing **Give It Up**, Tori took the opportunity to lay down and snuggle up beside her beau in a chaise lounge.

Xxxxxx

Finally, Saturday morning arrived. Even though the benefit concert wouldn't start until seven o'clock that evening, Tori was a bundle of nerves during breakfast. Somehow, she burned the toast and knocked over Cat's glass of orange juice before Paul sat her down at the table and told her that _he_ would fix breakfast that morning.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," Tori whined when Jade asked her why she was so jittery. "I'm usually not this nervous until just before a show, and then I can quickly run on stage and my nerves disappear during the first song. I haven't been this anxious since the first time I performed at Hollywood Arts in the Big Showcase when they practically forced me to fill in for Trina."

Cat quietly sat, eating her cereal, while Paul and Jade threw out ideas as to why the brunette singer was more anxious now than before previous concerts. The possible reasons started out as being plausible: This being her first benefit concert and she didn't have her usual backup band being the most likely.

Then the reasons started to get a little too far fetched, like it was the altitude or country atmosphere, or there was some strange substance in the well water that was affecting her. (Jade was going to suggest it was because Tori had lost her virginity last night or this morning, but decided against it. She could be snide and cruel, but not _that_ crass.)

Cat finished off her Coco Puffs, set her bowl and spoon down and simply said, "Maybe it's because your singing in front of your boyfriend, Paul."

There were ten or twelve seconds of silence as the other three pondered the idea. Finally Tori slowly shook her head and said, "That can't be it, Cat. I sang **Crawling On Your Knees **in front of Ryder, so that can't be the reason."

Cat giggled before contradicting, "But Ryder wasn't your true love, your soul mate. He really wasn't even a boyfriend-type person. Paul is your future husband."

That really threw Tori for a loop. Was Paul all that different from the other guys she had dated before? Were she and the ranch owner 'destined to be' and Fate had ultimately brought them together? Was she nervous to prove her singing abilities in front of the one person she was meant to be with for the rest of her life; To maybe prove she was worthy of his love?

Danny had been her first real boyfriend and Steven could probably be called her first true love, but she never performed in front of either of them, and both had turned out to be unworthy of her. She and Danny hadn't clicked and Steven had turned out to be a two-timing skunk-bag.

Was the third time the charm in Tori's love life? (Tori didn't put Ryder in the same 'boyfriend' category with the other two since they'd only been together for a couple of days before she discovered his true intent. The guy had simply used Tori and a few girls to get good grades in his classes, so he really didn't really qualify as a boyfriend, like Cat had said.)

A wicked smile graced Jade's face as she said, "I think Cat's on to something."

Tori also wanted it to be true but she had one more argument. "But I've sang in front of Paul before. We all sang karaoke just last night."

Jade countered, "But that was just practice and fooling around."

Then Cat suddenly jumped in with another piece of brilliance, "And tonight you'll be singing not only in front of your husband, but also in front of your future neighbors. That's after you marry Paul, then they'll all be your neighbors."

"So, what would you have me do, oh wise and insightful one?" Paul queried with a hint of jocularity to the petite redhead. He turned to Tori and slyly smiled as he continued the joke, "I want to be there tonight to support my blushing bride and mother of my future children."

Sure enough, Tori's cheeks swiftly bloomed a bright pink as she playfully swatted his arm and chided, "Paul!"

"I was just playing you," Paul swiftly ceded before placing a quick kiss on her cheek. He stood from the table and said, "I know what we need to do. We have ten hours before the concert starts so you all need a little distraction. Go get dressed and I take you to a few places that'll knock your socks off."

Tori and Jade readily agreed. Cat curiously questioned while pointing down to her naked feet, "But we're not wearing any socks, or any clothes. How can you knock our socks off?"

"Caaaaat," Jade warily started. "Paul _wants_ you to put some socks on so he can knock them off."

"Oh! 'Kay-'kay," the petite redhead swiftly agreed and started to race out of the room. She stopped in the kitchen doorway, turned to the three still in the kitchen and randomly begged, "If love is blind, then why is lingerie so popular?"


	13. Distractions and the Concert

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my highly disorganized mind. And as I've said before, I also don't own any of the songs or name brand products mentioned in this story. (Well, except for the altered song lyrics in the next chapter. But that debatable.)

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 13

Distractions and the Concert

Xxxxxx

They'd been pleasantly driving eastward along Highway 50 for what seemed to be hours, but it had only been five or ten minutes after passing through Montrose, before heading up into the mountains and Tori was still a bundle of nerves. She anxiously begged, "Where are we going?"

Paul, situated behind the wheel of the silver SUV, placed a calming hand on her's and gave it a squeeze as he said, "I thought we'd try and distract you so you wouldn't be so nervous. I just want you to see a few of the wonders you'll be living near after we get married."

Tori knew he was joking.

Maybe.

Cat seemed to be certain that Tori and the handsome guy were going to wed in the future and Tori was beginning to get comfortable with the idea herself. She had quickly grown to love Paul, and his ranch was somewhere she'd like to explore more, either dressed or in an au naturale state. She was also growing fond of the town of Montrose, what she'd see of it so far. The unhurried atmosphere of the small burg and ranch were completely different, and she found that she preferred them, to the hustle and bustle she'd grown up with in Hollywood. Tori was actually totally relaxed and rejuvenated after the hassles of her latest tour. (At least until this morning's panic attack.)

So yes, she could see her and Paul tying the knot at some point in the future. Maybe even the _near_ future.

Tori was so deep in her thoughts she didn't realize the SUV had pulled over to the side of the country road and had stopped, and that the other three people in the vehicle had gotten out. She quickly slid over and stepped from the huge SUV to see that they were parked out in the middle of nowhere with vast pastureland and nearby mountains surrounding them.

"Wow!" Cat softly marveled and pointed over to something in the near field, drawing Tori's attention.

There, not one hundred yards away grazing in the pasture, was a large herd of forty or fifty majestic elk quietly going about their business.

Paul softly spoke in Cat's ear, not wanting to spook the herd but loud enough for the three girls to hear, saying, "I told you they live in the area."

"So those are elk," Cat whispered, amazed at the size of the monstrous yet seemingly docile animals.

"Yes," Paul agreed. "Now you've seen the elk, deer and cattle just like I said you would when you first arrived." He then turned for the vehicle as he continued, "Come on. I have something else to show you not too far from here."

The SUV turned back on to a main road up into the mountains and soon they passed a guard shack and gate welcoming them to the **Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park**. Only a mile or so further in, Paul pulled in to one of the vista overlook parking lots and got out.

Cat curiously asked, "Why do they call it the Black Canyon of the Gunnison?" (She pronounced it gun-EYE-son instead of the proper gun-ah-son.)

As Paul led the three girls over to the guardrail overlooking Chasm View Point, he replied, "Well, the _Gunnison_," he emphasized the correct pronunciation of the name, "River created the canyon a long time ago and the walls are extremely steep, so very little light gets into the canyon. Hence the walls look to be black in color."

"Whoa!" Tori almost shouted as she looked down into the depths of the canyon and unconsciously took a step back away from the railing with a sudden case of vertigo.

Cat let out a high pitched "Eep!" and followed the brunette singer's lead by taking a few steps back herself after seeing the sheer drop.

Jade on the other hand, let out a light but evil chuckle and observed, "You _definitely_ don't want to fall down there."

"No you don't," Paul echoed before pointing over to the left toward the opposite cliff face down stream. "But it does have some interesting features."

"Wow," Cat softly murmured when she saw what Paul was pointing to and took a step forward. "That's beautiful. It looks like humongous lightning bolts are etched into the wall."

And it did look like huge, almost horizontal lightning bolts were embedded in the opposite wall of the canyon, from the top of the rim all the way down to the river below. Obviously, they were different lighter and darker colors of rock strata that were exposed when the river cut through the area.

"It's call the Painted Wall," Paul informed the trio, "and that particular canyon wall is actually one thousand feet taller than the Empire State building."

"Whoa, that tall," Jade marveled.

"Yes, but this isn't the deepest part of the canyon. That's Warner Point at just over twenty-seven hundred feet. But this is where the steepest decent of the canyon is located at two hundred-forty feet per mile."

Paul continued his little geology lesson by saying, "If you want to compare the Black Canyon with the Grand Canyon, this holds its own. The Grand Canyon might be larger, longer and deeper in most areas, but the Black Canyon drops at an average of over thirty-five feet per mile while the Grand Canyon only slopes at a measly seven and a half feet per mile."

Cat crept back over to the rail and peered down into the depths. She begged, "And the river did all of that?"

Paul let out a light chuckle as he replied, "Yes. But it happened over millions of years; Around one hundred fifty million years, they estimate. And the river was five times more powerful before they installed the three dams upstream."

"Well, that is one deep hole," Cat marveled as she peered down into the canyon once again. She turned to the others with a serious look on her face and randomly stated, "But there'd be a lot more holes in the world if people would just take the dirt out of them."

The quartet, ignoring Cat's random thought on 'holes' and spent a few more minutes taking in the scenery (with Tori snuggling into Paul's side the rest of the time) before they got in the SUV and headed back to Montrose for lunch at the Chinese restaurant.

Jade was a little miffed that the food was so much better tasting than at either Wok Star or Nozu. (She still deeply appreciated Mrs. Lee for backing her play, **Well Wishes**, even though she and Tori had literally left Mrs. Lee's daughter hanging in the lighting grid during the entire first performance when the restauranteur tried to rewrite the play to include said daughter, but Jade was seeking some kind of acknowledgment of her talents from her stoic, absentee father who wouldn't support her chosen career path.) But the dark haired actress eventually came around and enjoyed her meal.

When they arrived back at the ranch and exited the vehicle, Paul pulled his girlfriend into his arms allowing Cat and Jade to enter before them. He lovingly asked, "Are you alright now?"

Tori cuddled into his embrace and curiously begged, "What do you mean?"

"I was just wondering if you're still nervous about tonight's performance?"

"Oh my Gawd!" Tori squealed in surprise and leaned back away from her boyfriend, but stayed wrapped in his loving arms. "I forgot all about that. I was completely distracted by the canyon and the elk!"

Paul lightly laughed, "I thought our little sightseeing trip would help."

"It did," Tori practically purred as she nestled back into the embrace. "But we still have a few hours before we need to head to the Pavilion." She coyly asked, "Do you have any other little distractions to keep me occupied until then?"

"I think I can arrange something," Paul said as he leaned in and proceeded to soundly kiss the singer on the lips.

Xxxxxx

Tori was in a very good mood when they arrived at the Pavilion one hour before the concert was supposed to begin. She wasn't nervous at all despite the fact that she would be singing in front of her future husband and neighbors, all six hundred seats filled in the house, as Cat had pointed out that morning. She now accepted both of those things as the truth.

Fire Chief John Cedar opened the precedings with a little speech thanking everyone for coming to support the family of a fallen firefighter. He then introduced the first group. The band mostly played country music but ventured into a few folk songs now and then.

Their set only lasted a half hour and then it was Tori's turn to take the stage while the band and a few local volunteer stagehands broke down their equipment behind the curtain and helped the next group set up. Tori sang the same song she'd opened the Platinum Music Awards with two years ago: **Make It In America**.

Tori almost messed up one word of the title while she was singing, having rewritten the lyrics a bit for her own amusement while staying at the 'clothing free' ranch. She knew she wouldn't be able to sing the new lyrics in public, not without possibly causing a minor scandal, but she did plan to use them the next time they were all out by the pool singing karaoke.

After the song and the crowd settled down from their raucous applause Tori introduced the next band, a country/rock group that mixed in some songs from a band called **Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen **with some of their own creations. (Tori made a note to herself to try and find any albums done by the now forgotten 70's band. She especially loved the lead guitar driven song, **Hot Rod Lincoln**, and another,** Ain't Never Had Too Much Fun**. Both songs were just... fun.)

Cat took the stage while the bands switched out behind the curtain again. She sang her hit song, **Put Your Hearts Up**, a song that had gone over well both on stage and on the internet for her. Much to her surprise and joy, a local dance studio had some of their younger students dance around the stage behind her, just like in the music video, while she sang.

As Tori came out and introduced the last group, the Pink Floyd tribute band, Cat literally bounced off the stage and leapt into Paul's arms, squealing, "That was soooo much fun!"

"You did great, Cat," Paul smiled at the girl's exuberance before pointing out to the stage again, "but you still have one more song to do."

"Oh, that right," Cat said with a big smile as she broke from the embrace. "But it's not until the second song."

The red velvet hue-haired singer snuck out on stage when the second song, **The Great Gig In The Sky**, began and the spotlights were on the keyboardist and slide guitarist. Cat stayed in the shadows while the first two singers each took a turn and stepped forward during the instrumental number. The first lady was fairly good but really didn't have the vocal range to hit some of the high notes. The second vocalist fared about the same and both women received a smattering of appreciative applause for their efforts.

Then Cat stepped out of the shadows, up to the microphone and took the third part of the vocalization. She played it soft and sweet but it was obvious that her vocal training and eight octave range were far superior to the two local amateurs.

Nevertheless, when the song was over they all received a standing ovation. Cat enthusiastically hugged the two other ladies and congratulated them on a tough job well done before she waved to the audience one last time and retired from the stage.

Tori returned to the stage and sat down at the piano while the regular pianist turned to his electronic keyboards. The brunette singer remembered listening to Pink Floyd's version of **Comfortably Numb** and started off singing it in the slightly creepy, forced vocal style that the original group did it as she played a few chords on the piano.

_Hello,  
>Is there anybody in there<br>Just nod if you can hear me  
>Is there anyone at home<br>Come on, now  
>I hear you're feeling, down<br>I can ease your pain  
>And get you on your feet again<em>

_Relax  
>I'll need some information, first<br>Just the basic facts  
>Can you show me where it hurts<em>

She switched over to her normal sweet voice as she started the next part:

_There is no pain, you are receding_  
><em>A distant ship smoke on the horizon<em>  
><em>You are only coming through in waves<em>  
><em>Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying<em>  
><em>When I was a child I had a fever<em>  
><em>My hands felt just like two balloons<em>  
><em>Now I've got that feeling once again<em>  
><em>I can't explain, you would not understand<em>  
><em>This is not how I am<em>  
><em>I have become comfortably numb<em>

Tori wickedly smiled at the audience as she went back to her 'creepy' singing style.

_O.K._  
><em>It's just a little pin prick<em>  
><em>There'll be no more<em> (the drummer almost screamed/sang)_ aaaaaaaah!  
>But you may feel a little <span>sick<span>  
>Can you stand up?<br>I do believe it's working, good  
>That'll keep you going through the show<br>Come on it's time to go._

Tori was having a blast with the song as she switched styles once again to finish off the lyrics:

_There is no pain you are receding_  
><em>A distant ship smoke on the horizon<em>  
><em>You are only coming through in waves<em>  
><em>Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying<em>  
><em>When I was a child<em>  
><em>I caught a fleeting glimpse<em>  
><em>Out of the corner of my eye<em>  
><em>I turned to look but it was gone<em>  
><em>I cannot put my finger on it now<em>  
><em>The child is grown<em>  
><em>The dream is gone<em>  
><em>And I have become<em>  
><em>Comfortably numb.<em>

The band took a bow from the feverish ovation that they received when the song finished and all pointed to Tori, acknowledging her contribution.

Tori may have started blushing from the attention but she'd really enjoyed the change of pace from her normal, straight forward style of singing. It felt like she had actually been _acting_ a bit while singing the song, something she never really thought about doing before. It was definitely something new and different and she'd have to explore it, but that would have to happen later on. First she needed to get through the other song, **Shine On You Crazy Diamond**.

The guitar and organ were already well past the intro and into the song when Tori came out of her thoughts. Luckily, she'd heard the song enough times to recognize her cue to sing and the whole group added their voices on the second line whenever it was was repeated throughout the song.

_Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.  
>Shine on you crazy diamond.<br>Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.  
>Shine on you crazy diamond.<br>You were caught in the crossfire of childhood and stardom,  
>blown on the steel breeze.<br>Come on you target for faraway laughter,  
>come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!<em>

There was a brief electric guitar solo before the lyrics continued.

_You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.  
>Shine on you crazy diamond.<br>Threatened by shadows at night, and exposed in the light.  
>Shine on you crazy diamond.<br>Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,  
>rode on the steel breeze.<br>Come on you raver, you seer of visions,  
>come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine! <em>

Since the band didn't have a saxophonist, the keyboard player and guitarist alternated the next solo between them before the lyrics again continued.

_Nobody knows where you are, how near or how far.  
>Shine on you crazy diamond.<br>Pile on many more layers and I'll be joining you there.  
>Shine on you crazy diamond.<br>And we'll bask in the shadow of yesterday's triumph,  
>sail on the steel breeze.<br>Come on you boy child, you winner and loser,  
>come on you miner for truth and delusion, and shine <em>

The guitar player took them out of the song with a jazzy riff instead of the sax solo like when Pink Floyd preformed the song.

When the song ended the packed house just sat there, simply stunned, for a whole ten seconds before they broke out in a rousing, standing ovation.

Tori joyously laughed as she motioned first to the guitarist and then to the pianist, drummer and backup singers, acknowledging their huge contributions. She'd heard a few missed notes or off chords here and there, but overall they did a very good job with all of the music. After about thirty seconds of applause, she finally waved to the audience and skipped off stage into the arms of her boyfriend, giddily laughing all the way.

"You were _super,"_ Paul enthused as Tori virtually leapt into his arms.

"That was so much fun-did you see me out there-I think I really nailed it!" the brunette raved in one almost run-on sentence as she excitedly bounced on her heals and practically mugged Paul. She was definitely on an adrenaline high from the performance.

"Yes, you did a great job," Paul laughed at her enthusiasm. "And the band also played fairly well."

"Yes they did!" Tori practically shouted as the band kicked into another number, **See Emily Play**, almost drowning out their conversation. She noticed a few of the band members covertly motioning for her to join them on stage but she waved them off and held out her hands, face up, signaling that it was all theirs; That it was their turn to shine.

Paul finally stepped aside from Tori's grasp and Cat took the opportunity to excitedly jump on her fellow singer, saying in her ear," Wow, Tori. You were radical out there."

"So were you, Cat," Tori laughed.

Paul took the two singers by their elbows, separating them, and started to direct Tori and Cat to the back stage dressing rooms. He leaned over and said in the brunette's ear, "Come on. You need to get ready for the reception after the concert is over."

"Right." Tori looked around back stage as they walked over to the rooms and asked, "Where's Jade?"

Paul opened the dressing room door, the one set aside for the two Angelinos, and pointed. Jade was sitting at the makeup mirror, hunched over a sheaf of papers, reading.

Tori stormed into the room and indignantly begged, "Didn't you watch any of my songs?"

Jade looked up from her papers and blithely answered, "No, because I need to work on my lines for the movie." She immediately turned back to reading what was obviously her script. She hadn't touched it during the few days she'd been at the ranch but now it appeared she was deeply engrossed with it.

Paul whispered in his girlfriend's ear, "Don't worry about Jade. She's a bit upset that she didn't get to sing tonight so she's burying herself in what she _needs_ to do when she gets back to Los Angeles."

"You're probably right," Tori hushed back before grabbing a bottled water and taking a sip.

Xxxxxx

Tori and Cat were able to congratulate the tribute band as they came off stage before heading across the hall to the large recreation room where a reception was supposed to be held after the concert ended.

Much to their surprise when they arrived, people were just starting to set up tables amid the folding chairs that were set in a pattern normally used for an audience in the large room. The huge, big screen TV and amplifiers set up at the other end of the room led all four of them to the conclusion that people had also been watching the benefit concert in this room, too.

They were equally surprised when Chelsea, Mason Thornesmith's assistant, approached them with her always-present clipboard in hand and greeted them. "That was a marvelous performance, the both of you," the blonde gushed as she led the foursome over to a table already set up in the corner of the room for some privacy.

Paul cautiously asked, "Were there people in here watching the concert?"

"Yes," Chelsea lightly laughed as she sat down at the tables and motioned for the rest of them to join her, like it was her office. "It was all Mason's idea. We were able to almost double the number of tickets sold for the concert." Her joyous expression fell a bit when she added, "But we weren't able to sell these tickets at full price since the people wouldn't get to see you in person, only on the big screen telly."

"But that still means a lot more money was brought in for the benefit," Paul observed.

Chelsea's demeanor immediately brightened as she said, "Yes, and we're selling a lot more CDs because of the extra bodies."

Tori was a little put out with the way the conversation was turning out. It was obvious that Mason _and_ Chelsea were more concerned with the bottom line while sacrificing only a small bit of the profits to rent the TV and amps in order to sell more tickets and CDs. (If Mason even paid full price for the rentals since they were used for a benefit concert.) But Tori pushed aside those thought when she remembered that it also meant that more money was going to go to the fireman's wife and son.

Jade, a bit suspicious of the situation, piped up and asked, "So, how long have you been in town?"

Chelsea glanced down at her clipboard to check something and absently answered in her British accent, "Oh, I've been here since Friday afternoon."

"Wait a minute," Cat perked up at that information. "You've been here for _two whole_ _days_ and you never came out to the ranch to check up on us or visit?"

"Of course not, silly," the blonde assistant laughed. "That's not my job. I was sent out here to increase ticket and CD sales..." she checked her wristwatch and quickly rose from her chair while adding "...and to make sure the telly equipment is returned to the supplier so we aren't saddled with a full day's rental." She waved over her shoulder as she scurried off and cheerfully said, "I'll see you next weekend at the wedding."

And with that, Chelsea disappeared in the gathering crowd.

"Well," Tori huffed in mock indignation. "The _least_ she could've done is stick around and have some Bibble and tuna fish juice with us before she left."

The three girls laughed at the inside joke about when Tori first met Mason and Chelsea and had been fooled into drinking tuna fish juice, thinking it was his grandmother's special lemonade after getting rid of her friends by sending them on a limo ride to buy them each a ten pound bag of Bibble, the British snack. It was a little lie to prove that image equaled reality, and that Manson was a master of image.

Paul was left out of the joke, but Tori, Cat and Jade were more than happy to tell him all about what went on behind the scenes of Tori's big break in the music industry.

Xxxxxx

The reception was fun and went off without a hitch for the foursome. Dr. Hotchkiss and his wife Janet were present so Paul had someone to talk to, along with a few other friends from town, while Tori and Cat were busy greeting their fans. Jade generally moped at the corner table reading her script over and over while munching on a few of the appetizers set out for the reception. (Although she did get up to mingle a little after a few people recognized her from the two previous movies she'd been in.)

The highlight of the festivities for the small group happened when the wife and son of the deceased firefighter came over and were introduced to the teens by Frank Cross. (The fireman from the plane crash the previous weekend.) As the mother oozed with happiness over the concert, her son, who couldn't have been more than four years old, timidly hid behind her legs and occasionally peeked out every once in a while.

After the pleasantries and small talk were exchanged Tori knelt down to talk to the boy. She asked, "And what did you think of the music?"

Mom stepped aside and pushed her son forward a bit toward Tori while brushing his fingers out of the shy boy's mouth. She looked down to her son and kindly asked, "Yes, Timmy. What did you think about the show?"

The small boy, not saying a word, suddenly leapt forward and wrapped his arms around Tori's neck giving her a big hug.

Tori laughed as she wrapped her own arms around the boy, looked up at the mother and said, "I guess that answers that question."

Xxxxxx

Cat threw her used paper plate and plastic cup in the trash can as the four left the recreation center. She suddenly stopped in place and randomly asked, "How do they throw away garbage cans when they're done with them?"

Tori let out a light laugh and answered, "I don't know. But I suppose we _could_ give them to Jade to cut up."

That brought a wicked smile to the actress's face as she swiftly reached into her thigh-high boots, pulled out a pair of her favorite scissors and snapped them open and closed a few times as she viciously said, "You got that right."

Xxxxxx

Author's Side Note: I have no idea how Jade got her scissors through the metal detector at the airport. You'll have to ask her.


	14. New Lyrics

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my convoluted mind. I also don't own any of the music, products or businesses mentioned in this story so my only recompense is your praise or ridicule. I accept both and will respond to all signed reviews received. (And heartily laugh at any and all flames!)

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 14

New Lyrics

Xxxxxx

Tori Vega was absolutely exhausted as she, Cat, Jade and Paul walked into the ranch house after the concert and reception were over. She knew Jade had a _very_ early flight back to Los Angeles in the morning and didn't think she could wake up in time to see the actress off, so she said, "Jade, it's been a long day and I'm tired. Can we just say good-bye now?"

While the two girl's friendship had solidified since graduating from Hollywood Arts, Jade still like to playfully tease the half Latina when she could. She answered with a wicked grin, "I just bet you only wanna sleep in with your new boyfriend tomorrow morning instead of seeing your _good_ _friend_ off."

"That's not true!" Tori defensively screamed. "It's just that I..." she trailed off when she saw the big smile on Jade's face broaden even more. The brunette singer realized that she was being played, scowled at the actress and harshed, "That's not funny, Jade."

"You're right," Jade chuckled, holding in a bigger laugh. "It was hilarious. You were all..." her voice raised a couple of octaves as she used her imitative, 'Southern Belle' accent, "...Why that's not true."

Tori had heard the same _supposed_ imitation of the way she talked from Jade too many times before and this time she was ready. Her voice imitated Jade's imitation of a Southern Belle while she flirtatiously batted her eyelashes and snuggled in to Paul's loving arms as she cooed, "Why yes I did say that. And I just might sleep in if the love of my life here can find a way to get you to the airport on time without leaving our bed."

Jade's jaw dropped at the brilliant comeback as she stared at Tori's audacious flirting with their host. She quickly regained her composure and wickedly smiled as she congratulated, "Very good, Tori. You're finally learning."

Cat quickly broke in on the banter. "I can take you to the airport, Jade."

The raven-haired actress turned to her redheaded friend and said, "I'd like that, Cat." She turned back to Tori and asked, "I suppose we'll see each other next Saturday at Andre's wedding then?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Tori confirmed as she and Jade exchanged a quick hug.

"Speaking of which," Paul interjected before anyone could head off to bed. He slyly asked Tori, "Do you have a date for the wedding or the reception?"

The brunette singer immediately caught on to what Paul was asking. They'd only been a couple for one week and she was well on her way to making wedding plans of her own, at least in her mind. She _had_ planned on going stag to the wedding with Cat while Jade was hoping Beck could break away from his tough taping schedule to attend.

Jade and Beck's on-again off-again romance was back on for the present, even though they were busy in different cities filming their different productions. The separation helped a little with Beck discovering that he really missed his girlfriend and that he _had_ enjoyed girls flirt with him back at Hollywood Arts causing Jade to doubt his fidelity. (Beck was, after all, an actor and all actors just love to have their egos massaged and fawned over.) Once Beck realized it, he stopped girls from flirting with him and Jade was _much_ happier with their relationship.

But anyway, Tori now had a boyfriend, Paul, and that meant she had someone special to attend the wedding with.

That's if he would go with her. She hadn't asked him yet.

"Oh that's right," Tori exclaimed, faking shock. She innocently stated, "Well, I _was_ going with Cat but since I have a boyfriend now..."

Cat quickly wrapped her arms around one of Paul's and begged him, "Will you be my date to the wedding since Tori is going with her boyfriend?"

"Caaaaat!"

"What, Tori," the redheaded singer innocently queried. "I mean you're ditching me so I need to find my own date."

The playful smile on Cat's face told Tori that the redhead was also playing her.

Paul gently extricated himself from the petite singer's grasp and chuckled, "I'd love to be your date for the wedding Cat, but I think my girlfriend might get jealous if I went with you instead of her."

"Drats," Cat fake-huffed and snapped her fingers in exasperation.

Paul turned to Tori and said, "I'd love to go with you and meet your family and your other friends. When did you want to leave for Los Angeles?"

"Well, um..." Tori hadn't thought that far in advance about heading back to Hollywood for the wedding... or back to her previous life for that matter. The last few weeks had shown her that L.A. wasn't the place for her; That the country lifestyle was what she craved, even _needed_ in her life now. The unhurried way of life greatly contrasted with her hectic tour schedule and life in general.

It was almost a Yin and Yang kinda thing.

Her sister Trina was a martial arts student but had also briefly studied the philosophy of the art. She and Tori had once talked about the Yin and the Yang in the martial arts and how it translated into life in general. Trina really couldn't comprehend the concept of positive and negative, or even good and evil, balancing each other out, but Tori certainly did.

The serene country life she was experiencing would definitely balance out her crazy tour schedule when needed.

"I tell you what," Paul cut in when he saw Tori was lost in thought over the situation. "Why don't we head to Hollywood on Wednesday. You and I can meet with Mason on Thursday or Friday to discuss your next album and then we can all go to the wedding on Saturday." He turned to Cat and said, "And I'd love to escort you to the wedding. That's if my girlfriend won't mind an extra person hanging with us."

"'Kay-'kay!"

The three looked to Tori to see if she was okay with the plans. She smiled and echoed, "'Kay-'kay."

"Hey, that's _my_ line," Cat yelped in dismay before she broke out in a giggle fit and the others joined in on the laughter.

Before the laughter totally died down, Tori spoke up, "You know, I _almost_ sang different lyrics to my song, **Make It in America **tonight."

"Really?" Cat excitedly begged.

Jade's reaction was a little more predictable. She mock pouted like she was talking to a small child as she said, "Awww. Did poor wittle Tori almost make a boobity-boo tonight? That's a shame. What did you almost sing?"

Unfazed by Jade's barb, Tori pulled the music jump drive that had her and Cat's music from her pocket and walked out to the patio cabana. She fiddled a bit with the sound equipment trying to get the correct song to play before Paul took over and brought up the right music.

Tori's song, **Make It In America **played as she sang:

_Got a one way ticket down a 2 way street  
>Got the wind in my hair and there's dust on my <em>_bare__ feet  
>I'm just trying to <em>_be naked__ in America_

_Only thing to my name is an old t-shirt_  
><em>Faded 1985 from a Stones' concert<em>  
><em>So I gotta <em>_be naked__ in America_

_And I'm singing the words to my favorite song_  
><em>With the rag top down and my glasses on<em>  
><em>And I'm driving straight through America<em>

_I wanna __be tanned__ by the sun  
>Cause baby I'm born to run<br>I got a feeling that I'm not the only one_

_And I, I wanna show my __quim__  
>Yeah baby I need the ocean<br>And you can't stop me now I've got my heart in motion  
>'Cause I wanna <em>_be __naked__ in America  
><em>_Naked__ in America_

_I can see me standin' __naked__ on Sunset and Vine  
>Gonna <em>_show__my pussy__ at the Hollywood sign  
>Yeah I gotta, <em>_run naked 'cross__ America_

_See me wearin' a smile, __and not a stitch more__  
>I'll be <em>_showin' lots a skin in__ the great outdoors  
>And I'll call it <em>_Naked__ In America_

_I wanna taste the sun_  
><em>Cause baby I'm born to run<em>  
><em>I got a feeling that I'm not the only one<em>

_And I, I wanna show __all my__ skin  
><em>_Skinny-dip__ in the ocean  
>And you can't stop me now I've got my <em>_ass__ in motion  
>I wanna <em>_be naked__ it in America  
><em>_Naked__ in America_

_I can feel the sweat dripping down my face_  
><em>I can hear my heart as it starts to race<em>  
><em>As I show my <em>_naked __body all over the place  
>If I just push on I know that<em>

_I wanna __be tanned__ by the sun  
>Cause baby I'm born to run<br>I got a feeling that I'm not the only one_

_I, I wanna show my skin __Skinny-dip__ in the ocean  
>And you can't stop me now I've got <em>_my naked butt__ in motion  
>I wanna <em>_be naked__ in America  
><em>_Naked__ in America_

When the song ended, Cat jumped into Tori's embrace and squealed in delight, "I love it! I wanna be naked in America, too!"

Jade slowly mock-clapped, a broad but wicked smile gracing her face as she guessed, "So you almost sang 'naked' instead of 'make it' tonight? You could almost get away with that 'cause they sound so much alike."

"Yes they do," Paul jovially echoed as he pulled the drive from the stereo equipment and shut down the system. "But we all need some sleep now and Jade and Cat need to get up in a few hours."

They all said their good nights and headed off to bed.

Xxxxxx

Tori felt absolutely marvelous as she slowly awoke in the arms of her boyfriend. She glanced at the alarm clock on the night side table and realized Jade was probably already on the plane that was half way to Denver by now, and that Cat would be returning to the ranch soon. But in the meantime she couldn't feel more content.

But Tori also remembered the short conversation she and Paul had before climbing into bed last night. He needed to arrange for someone, probably one of his neighbor's kids, to tend to the horses while they were gone and she needed to call her parents to tell them about Paul. Tori had decided that he would be staying with her in her bedroom while they were in Los Angeles whether her mom and dad said it was okay or not.

Tori thought her mother wouldn't be too upset with the sleeping arrangement but her father would probably go postal if he found out his daughter was _'sleeping' _with a guy. (Even if it was only being unconscious in bed together instead of in the carnal meaning of the word.) She knew most fathers were like that, not wanting their 'Little Girl' growing up too fast.

So Tori decided to talk to her mother first and let her mom break the news to her father.

The other concern that Tori had was if Paul could get away for a while from his job with the school bus company. Luckily, school would be ending that week so they would probably be okay without him. (Especially since he was only a part-time, fill-in employee.)

Remembering the time difference, Tori knew her parents were still asleep in bed so she closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep in Paul's reassuring embrace.

Xxxxxx

"No, mom," Tori said into her Pearphone as she nakedly laid out on one of the lounges by the pool with Paul cuddled up beside her. "You don't need to get the spare room ready. Paul will stay with me in my bedroom." She frowned at what her mother said before stating, "No, we haven't had sex yet. We've both decided to wait until after we're married. But I _have_ gotten used to sleeping beside him so that's why I want him to stay in my room."

Tori let out a heavy sigh before adding, "I know dad will probably throw a fit when he finds out. That's why I think you should tell him instead of me... Yeah, I'll see you on Wednesday. Love you. Bye." Tori disconnected the call and slumped back in her chair.

"That sounded like it went fairly well," Paul joked as he draped his arm across Tori's bare stomach and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Not really. It didn't go as well as I expected," Tori huffed. She thought her father would more than likely put up a fuss about her and Paul sleeping in the same bed but she didn't think her mother would be upset about it. The problem Holly Vega had about the situation wasn't the fact that Tori was sleeping beside her boyfriend, it was because they had only know each other for such a short time.

"We'll straighten it all out after we get to Hollywood," Paul calmly assured his girlfriend. "If all else fails I can get a room at a nearby hotel to satisfy your parents, or we could drive out in the motor home and park it in their driveway."

"Wait," the brunette curiously begged. "You own a motor home?"

"Yes," Paul answered with a broad smile. "It's parked down in the barn behind the stables. Didn't you see it down there?"

"No," Tori said, thinking back on the barn-like building behind the stables. "I've only been in the stalls and the tack room. I've never looked in the other the building."

"Well, it's down there with a couple of ATVs and a few other things I don't use very often. "I'll show you the next time we're down there."

Tori was about to respond when her Pearphone signaled an incoming call. She checked who was calling and hesitantly said, "Um, I think we might just get to straighten out the bedroom situation at home right now. It's my dad."

Tori accepted the call, saying, "Hi Daddy." She listened for a few seconds before saying, "Let me put you on speakerphone."

The brunette pressed a button on the phone and heard her father ask, "Are you still there, honey?"

"Yes, dad," Tori answered. "And Paul is here too, listening in."

"Good morning, Mr. Vega," Paul chimed in before Tori's father could speak. "My name is Paul Bowman and I guess I've caught your daughter's fancy."

"It appears so, Mr. Bowman," David Vega answered sounding a bit angry, or at least a tad over protective. "Now what's this..."

Mr. Vega was interrupted when Paul quickly cut in, saying, "Please, call me Paul. Mr. Bowman was my father."

"Okay, Paul," David said, almost rolling the name over before continuing. "Now as I was asking, what's all this about you sleeping with my daughter?"

"I'm not sure, sir," Paul joked with a light laugh. "Your daughter snuck into my bedroom a few nights ago after we decided to become a couple and she's been by my side every since."

"I'm not that bad," Tori playfully chided her boyfriend as she lightly slapped him on the chest, temporarily forgetting about her father on the other end of the line. "You were the one who abandoned me most of the day last Monday to drive a bus and I didn't say anything."

"A bus?" Mr Vega questioned, breaking in on the playful banter between his daughter and the other man on the line. "What kind of bus do you drive, Paul?"

"I drive a school bus, sir," Paul immediately replied, not being thrown off by the sudden question while he and Tori were talking between themselves. "But I only go in when they need me. I'd hate to take someone else's job so I only drive when they're short-staffed."

"That very commendable of you, son," David said, now taking a liking to the affable young man that his daughter obviously liked a lot. If he were driving a school bus, Paul would've been thoroughly checked out by the company if he was going to be around children on the job. "But I'm still a little leery of letting you sleep in the same bed with my daughter under _my_ roof."

"That's understandable, sir," Paul countered. "But she _is_ nineteen years old, over the age of majority in most states, so it's her decision."

"That's true," Mr. Vega ceded with a heavy sigh. Even though the age of majority was twenty-one in California, a lot of other states set it at eighteen and David knew that fact. He generally took a hands off approach to his daughters believing it would allow them mature a little faster. He had to handle domestic disputes in his job so he didn't want to be bothered by them in his home life. (Unless they involved his brand new camera and tripod, like the time Trina tried to jack Tori's date.)

"I tell you what, sir," Paul stated in a serious voice. "I know you're a Detective with the police force. Why don't you run a background check on me. If you need any information to do so, I'll be happy to supply it."

"I might just take you up on that... But the offer alone is enough to make me feel like you're an okay kind of guy." The offer really did put David's mind more at ease with the situation. None of Tori's other boyfriends had offered such a thing. If Paul was willing to have a background check done on himself then he was certainly an okay kinda guy, and it also proved that he took Tori's safety seriously.

"Thank you, sir," Paul said with a slight relief in the tension he had been feeling. "But the offer still stands if you ever feel the need to protect your daughter."

Tori, feeling left out of the conversation, slipped in, "And you don't have to worry about Paul being after my money, Dad. He's already a millionaire so you don't have to worry about him being a gold-digger."

The out of left field statement from his daughter threw Mr. Vega for a loop, but only for a few seconds. He quickly responded with a laughing jab, "I hadn't even thought about that, honey. But now that you've brought it up, it's nice to know you won't have to sing for your supper in the future."

"It was only that one time," Tori defensively howled back, remembering the supposed 'ping pong tournament' she and her friends had played in. The gang had formed a fake ping pong team at Hollywood Arts in order to use school sports funds to go to a fancy restaurant, only to have Robbie order some expensive caviar. Because of that, they couldn't cover the entire bill. She had to literally sing to pay for their dinner that night, effectively shutting down the ping pong team since they didn't want details of the scam to get out. She hadn't told her parents everything about the incident but she did tell them about the shortage when they 'went out to eat' _after_ the tournament.

"Well anyway, Tori," her father kindly said, "it sounds like you might have a good man there. We'll see you in a coupla days." While he wasn't totally convinced that Tori had chosen the right guy to be with for the rest of her life, he trusted her judgment. (A lot more than he trusted Trina's judgment in boyfriends. How his oldest daughter had hooked herself up with a Spanish TV channel floor director, he'd never know or fathom.)

"We'll see you when you get home from work Wednesday evening," Tori laughed in relief before hanging up the call.

Xxxxxx

Monday and Tuesday seemed to fly by for the two young pop singers and the ranch owner. They all went to the stables on both days and had a wonderful time riding and taking care of the horses.

Paul showed the two girls around the barn on Monday and both Tori and Cat were quite surprised when they saw the motor home parked in the other building. Paul informed them that the thirty-five foot coach was slightly shorter than the school bus he sometimes drove but it had all the amenities of home. Cat was especially fascinated when Paul plugged in the shore power and extended the slides, expanding the living room, kitchen and bedroom areas of the huge recreational vehicle.

Tori was more interested in the two, six-wheel, all terrain vehicles parked in the garage next to the RV. She asked Paul why he didn't use them to drive out to the stables and he simply replied that he normally only used one of them during the winter for plowing the snow from the driveway. He pointed to one of the ATVs and sure enough, it had a decent sized snowplow blade attached to the front.

Cat then questioned why he owned two of them if he only used one.

Paul replied, "It's because of my parents. They always believed in redundancy. Dad always brought along a spare mixing board whenever he was out on tour just in the off chance the one he was using didn't work properly or somehow damaged, and mom kept two spare folders of all the music she wrote, just in case the primary one got lost or stolen. That's also the reason I have _two_ Jeeps and the SUV."

Both girls accepted the explanation and Cat started to explore the barn a little more.

Tori, on the other hand, playfully begged her boyfriend, "So if you believe in redundancy, does that mean you have a backup girlfriend just in case _I_ get lost or break down and don't work?"

Paul immediately caught the teasing nature of the question and slyly answered as he lovingly wrapped Tori in a hug, "Yes I do. If something bad happens to you I'll just have to use Cat as a spare until you can be found or repaired."

Ten whole seconds passed with the couple smugly staring at each other to see who would break first.

If you'd like to know, it was a tie. They both started laughing at the same time over the silly banter.

Cat wandered back over as the laughter subsided, pointed to the ATV with the snowplow blade on the front of it and randomly begged, "How do the guys who drive the snowplows on the roads get to work when it snows?"

Xxxxxx

When Wednesday rolled around, Tori and Cat weren't looking forward to traveling back to Hollywood, but for entirely different reasons.

Tori was bummed that she'd have to leave the ranch. She'd really gotten used to the quiet lifestyle living out in the country entailed. In Hollywood, you could hear cars driving down the street in front of her parent's house at just about all hours of the day and night while out here the only sounds you heard in rural Montrose were chirping birds. (And they only seemed to be noisy during the morning hours.) She also love the fact that she could strip naked out on the ranch and fully enjoy the sunshine.

Cat didn't want to go back to Hollywood because she'd miss seeing Tori everyday and not be able to nakedly play in the swimming pool. Of course she'd also dearly miss the bunnies scurrying across the dirt road whenever she drove anywhere in the canyon.

Both Tori and Cat had considered Paul's offer to drive them home in the RV but the idea of being on the road for sixteen hours or more brought back memories of their recent concert tours and the idea was quickly nixed.

All that aside, they arrived at the Montrose Airport an hour and a half early. After checking in their suitcases, Cat asked, "What are we supposed to do now, sit around and wait?"

"Well," Paul slyly smiled as he led them over to the metal detectors, "I thought you'd might like a last taste of Montrose before you return to Hollywood." He pointed past the metal detectors indicating a small restaurant sitting beyond.

Cat's whole body lit up with excitement as she almost screamed, "There a **Horsefly Brewing Company** here at the airport?"

Tori joined in in her friend's amazement as they all passed through the metal detectors without any problems and said, "I didn't notice the restaurant there when Cat and I were here the last two times."

"That's because you were in the arrival area, not the departure," Paul informed the two singers as he led them over to one of the tables and sat down.

A couple of minutes before their plane was supposed to board, Cat flagged down their waitress and asked, "Is it okay if I take an order of Rocky Oysters with me on the plane?"

Unfortunately, she couldn't.

Xxxxxx

Author's Note: The altered lyrics to **'Make It In America'** are a product of my own warped imagination, so if Miss Justice wants to sing them she'll have to meet with me to discuss the matter. Who knows. Maybe she'll find Montrose as relaxing as I do and move out here. It's my understanding that there are a few celebs who own property out here in Western Colorado for the express purpose of occasionally getting away from their busy lives.


	15. Meet the Family

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my twisted and gnarled fingers. I never thought the old saying 'work your fingers to the bone' could be so true!

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 15

Meet the Family

Xxxxxx

"Don't forget we're meeting with Mason and your manager tomorrow morning to go over which songs will be on our next albums," Tori called out to her redheaded friend as Cat got out of the back seat of the rental car at her parent's house.

"I'll remember," Cat called back with a huge smile on her face. "You're picking me up at nine-thirty, right?"

"You got it," Paul said from the driver's seat, waving at the petite singer as she merrily skipped to her front door and entered. Well, 'skipped' would be pushing it since she had her pink backpack on her back and she was also carrying the large suitcase filled with all the clothes, jewelry and the toy tiger she'd purchased in Colorado, but she was happily moving at a brisk pace.

Cat and Tori had gone on a shopping spree in Montrose yesterday, Tuesday, since they didn't have anything else to do after riding the horses and laying out in the sun all morning. They each arrived back at the ranch with enough clothes to fill the large suitcases they'd bought after the CD signing in Grand Junction almost two weeks ago.

A few minutes later Tori and Paul pulled into the driveway of Tori's parent's house. Paul got out and went to the trunk (boot if you live in England) to retrieve his and Tori's suitcases, then followed his girlfriend to the front door.

"Hi, I'm home!" Tori loudly called out as she entered. "Is anybody here?" She really didn't expect anyone to be at home. Her parents, David and Holly, would normally be at work midday on a Wednesday and Trina didn't live there anymore, having moved in with her producer/director boyfriend. Much to her surprise, she got an answer.

"It's about time you got back from no-wheres-ville," Trina angrily yelled as she came stomping down the steps from the second floor. "You know I got better things to do now than to check up on the house. My new show started taping on Monday."

The Spanish language cable station star stopped in her tracks at the bottom of the stairs when she saw Paul setting down the bags. She lasciviously licked her lips and asked in a sultry voice, "Whoa! And who's the hunky guy you got to carry your luggage for you?"

"Down Trina," Tori angrily warned, not putting up with her sister's larger than average libido and ego which usually led to her trying to latch on to any guy she thought was hot; Even a few of Tori's old boyfriends she had been dating at the time. "You have your own boyfriend, this one is mine."

"Yeah, but this one is so yummy," the older Vega sister almost purred as she practically sauntered over to the two.

"I'm flattered," Paul joked with a broad smile toward the come-on. "You'd actually _cheat_ on your live-in boyfriend with me? I must be doing something right." He and Tori had talked about her family, and Trina specifically. She'd told him a few stories about how Trina had tried to get guys to date her during their time at Hollywood Arts; Like the one time Trina had baked a frozen pizza and posed as a delivery person to get a guy to notice her, or the time she asked Steven why he was dating Tori when she was available. So Paul knew Trina's desire to be famous and loved just might be getting the better of her right now.

Paul's jest caused Trina to pause for a moment. She suddenly realized she'd fallen back into her old habit of going after whatever handsome guy was in front of her. She stuttered, "M-me? C-cheat on Juan? I-I-I..." She quickly hid her embarrassment of being caught out so blatantly hitting on the man by shying her head and muttering, "I need to get going. We started shooting my new TV show on Monday and they need me on the set in a half hour." She quickly headed for the door.

"What's the new show about?" Paul called out to the rapidly moving actress.

Trina's ego was stroked by the question. She turned and haughtily replied, "Oh, it's a comedy soap opera and _I'm_ the star."

"Well," Tori said, hoping to end the conversation with her sister sooner rather than later, "you'd better get going if you're suppose to shoot an episode in a half hour."

"Right," the actress joyously said as she started for the door again. "Can't keep my adoring public waiting." With that and a quick, "Buh-bye," over her shoulder, she disappeared from the house.

Paul held back a laugh as he asked, "So, that's your sister, Trina?"

"Yeah," Tori said with a bit of a exasperated whine to her voice. "She's kinda..."

"I get the picture," the millionaire/ranch owner said as he took his girlfriend into his arms and gave her a hug. "I've met quite a few ego-driven divas in my time while working with my parents whenever I accompanied them when they went out on tour."

Tori wanted to ask if Kris had been one of those diva, as business-like as Paul had told her she could be but thought better than to drag up terrible memories of the accident that took his former fiancée and parents. She settled for a jocular, "I bet you have. The entertainment industry is full of them."

"Luckily, I met a singer that doesn't fall into that category: You."

"Awww! I love you too," Tori cooed from the totally sappy yet sweet compliment before she leaned in for a kiss. As their lips were about to meet, there was a knock at the front door.

Paul smirked as he said, "I suppose since we're the only ones here right now we'll have to answer the door, as much as I'd like to make out with you." He quickly stole a kiss before breaking from the hug and led Tori back over to the front door.

The brunette singer, remembering the list of precautions Mason Thornesmith had gone over when she first signed her five year contract, peeked through the peephole and saw a red-haired woman of about fifty years old standing outside.

While Mason's first rule of safety in this kind of situation was to make sure you knew who was at the door before opening it. (Taking heed of the Rebecca Schaeffer murder, the record producer was concerned that the person could be a stalker or some other kind of weirdo. If they harmed Tori in any way then she couldn't make any more music and his moneymaking asset was lost.) Tori didn't see any threat, so she opened the door. "Hello?"

The woman warmly smiled and said, "Hello Vicky-Vic."

Now, Tori hadn't gone by that nickname for quite a few years, not since she was three or four years old, so the familiarity threw her for a loop. She begged, "I'm sorry but, do I know you?"

The woman gayly laughed for a few seconds before she answered, "Well, I suppose it's been a while since you last saw me. I'm your aunt, Suzanne Vega."

Tori wracked her brain trying to remember any aunts she might have but couldn't remember a single one.

It was Paul who broke his girlfriend out of her mental exercise when he gasped, "Oh my God, it _is _you. It's so great to see you after all these year. Come on in." He gently nudged Tori to the side to allow Suzanne to enter before closing the door behind her.

Suzanne raised a thin eyebrow at Paul and warily asked, "I'm sorry but, have _we_ meet?"

The Colorado ranch owner led the two women over to sit on the long couch as he replied, "We have, but you probably don't remember me. It's been ten years or so. My name is Paul Bowman and my dad worked a few of your concerts as a sound engineer in Miami and Tampa."

"Bowman... Florida..." Suzanne Vega muttered to herself as she sat down in deep thought before she perked up. "Oh. You're Elizabeth and Mark's boy and you used to help your father set up the audio, running the cables and such." Her face fell as she continued, "I heard about the accident. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Yes, well, you're not here to talk about my past. You're here to visit with your niece."

The two that'd been chatting turned to Tori who'd sat down beside Paul. The brunette singer peered questioningly and said, "I'm sorry but I don't remember you."

"It's not surprising," Suzanne gaily laughed. "I haven't seen you since you were three years old."

"_That's_ why you called me Vicky-Vic," Tori said in relief, now that she put two and two together. "I haven't gone by that nickname since I was, like, four. Everybody calls me Tori, now. I take it you're a singer like me?"

"And a very popular one, too," Paul interjected with a wry smile. He turned to their guest and jokingly begged, "What was the moniker they labeled you with? 'The Mother of the MP3', was it?"

"Yes," Suzanne lightly chuckled. "But that's only because they used my music during the initial trials when they created it."

"And you did have a few songs go to the top of the charts," Paul countered. **"Luka** and **Tom's** **Diner **were both big hits from your second album."

"Yes," Suzanne full out laughed this time. "But it's hilarious what some people have done with them on the internet. Have you seen the remix of **Tom's Diner **where one fan taped it being sung by his Doberman Pinscher, Fluffy?"

"I haven't seen that one," Paul laughed along with their guest. "I'll have to look it up on the web."

"Anyway," Suzanne said as she turned to her niece, "I came here to ask if you'd like to do a collaboration. You're becoming a popular singer and my manager thought it'd be a wonderfully unique idea if we got together for a song or two; Maybe even a whole album."

Tori was totally taken aback. Here was her aunt, someone whom she really didn't remember at all and a well known singer in her own right, asking her to collaborate on an album. She fumbled for a few seconds before saying "I-I-I guess it'd be okay but I'd have to get approval from my manager, Mason Thornesmith, first."

"Oh that's right," Suzanne said with a bit of disgust in her voice. "You signed with _him_." She added, almost under her breath but loud enough to be heard by Tori and Paul, "The slime ball." The redheaded singer perked back up, stood and continued, "Well, you run it by Thornesmith and see what he sez. If he's agreeable, then have him contact my manager." She handed her niece a business card with the name and phone number of her boss on it before heading for the door with Paul and Tori following.

The brunette singer quickly asked, "Don't you want to stick around and talk? Mom and dad should be home in an hour or so."

"I talked to David and Holly yesterday," Suzanne said as she stopped with the front door open in her hand. "They told me when you'd be arriving home from your little vacation so I took the chance in seeing you now. But I really need to go, I have a plane to catch."

"Oh, where are you flying off to?" Tori curiously begged.

"I'm heading out for a European tour. I have a few shows in the United Kingdom then one in Portugal, three in France, then it's on to Spain, Italy and Finland during the next three weeks and my plane leaves in just over an hour."

"Wow, you sure are busy," Tori marveled. "I just got done with my first U.S./Canada tour and I'm heading out in a few weeks to start my own first world tour, 'tho Mason hasn't told me any of the countries or dates yet." She almost bragged, "_Aaaand_, I think he has a movie deal in the works."

"I highly doubt that," Suzanne snorted in disbelief. "Thornesmith has absolutely no contacts in the film industry so he's probably lying just to keep you happy for some reason."

"Really?" Tori begged, her hopes of plying her acting talents once again virtually shot down with that revelation.

Paul wrapped his arms around his girlfriend to comfort her as he said, "I think Suzanne is right. Mason hasn't gotten any of his other singers an acting gig so he probably told you that to keep you focused on your career."

"Anyway, it sounds like you'll be busy, too, with your upcoming tour," Suzanne chuckled as she checked her watch again. She looked back up at her niece and smiled. "Well, I really need to get going. It's been nice seeing you again." She leaned in and gave Tori an affectionate hug.

"Yeah," Tori enthusiastically laughed as she returned the embrace. "It was nice meeting you. Don't be a stranger and I'll talk to Mason soon about the collaboration. I'll also have to ask mom and dad why they never talk about you."

They bade their good-byes. Tori waved once more before closing the door and turning to her beau. "Wow! How come I didn't I know I had a famous aunt?"

"Maybe your parents never mentioned her because they didn't want to put any pressure on you to match or compete with Suzanne."

"That's possible," Tori said, thinking about what other reasons there could be before brightening with another thought. "Maybe that's why Trina has such a high opinion of herself; That she thinks she's as talented as Aunt Suzanne."

The two laughed as they went upstairs to drop off their luggage and strip down, then return downstairs to grab some sodas from the refrigerator before heading out to the patio for a little sun and naked relaxation by the pool.

Xxxxxx

Holly Vega arrived home, her arms loaded down with groceries. As she set the bags down on the kitchen counter she happened to glance out the patio doors and saw her younger daughter lying out there naked with some man. She walked over to the doors to make sure of what she was seeing before she stepped outside and asked, "Tori, why are you out here without any clothes on? And why is there a naked man sitting next to you?"

"Oh, hi mom," the brunette daughter casually greeted as she looked up from the magazine she had been reading. "This is Paul Bowman, the guy I told you and dad about on the phone. Paul and I were just wasting a little time before you all got home."

Holly remembered their conversation from a few days ago when Tori had mentioned that Paul, the guy she'd fallen in love with and who also the owned the ranch out in Colorado where she'd been staying, was going to join her in Hollywood. Holly observed the young man, noticing the all-over tan right away, before she turned back to her daughter. "You can waste all the time you want but why are you doing it naked out here on the patio? Aren't you afraid someone might see you?"

Before Tori could say a word, Paul stood up and extended a hand in greeting, saying, "I'm afraid that's partially my doing, Mrs. Vega. You see, I'm a practicing Naturist and insist that anyone who visits my house has to join in. I guess she's gotten so used to being naked over the last two and a half weeks that it just carried over when she got back home."

Tori stood to join the conversation and quickly added, "And nobody can see us out here on the patio because of all the trees and bushes and the hillside; That is unless they're actually _trying_ to spy on us."

Holly shook the man's hand and explained, "Well, I suppose you're right. I'm just not used to seeing anybody naked out here." She turned and headed back into the house, saying, "I need to put the groceries away."

"Would you like some help, Mrs. Vega?" Paul asked as he followed the woman of the house into the kitchen with Tori close on his heels.

"That's kind of you, Paul," Holly chimed with a broad smile as they all went to work storing the four bags of food. "And please call me Holly."

As Tori put a few cans away in the cupboard, she warily begged, "You don't seem too upset that Paul and I are naked. I mean you were more concerned with someone seeing us out by the pool than actually being in the buff. Why?"

Holly stopped emptying the shopping bags for a minute as she looked at her daughter and confessed, "Well, do you remember how your father and I sometime take a weekend off and head up to Santa Barbara?"

"Yeah," Tori warily ceded, remember a few time when her parents would disappear for the weekend. One specific time came to mind; The time she was left to take care of Trina after her sister had had all four of her wisdom teeth removed. That was _not _a fun weekend. Luckily she got away for a few hours to help Jade and Cat out while Beck, André and Robbie looked after her sister. Putting one over on those two ganks at Karaoke Dokie made the whole weekend worth while.

Holly continued her confession, "Well, we never really went up to Santa Barbara. Actually, we'd head out to a small resort in the Mohave Desert, in Newberry Springs."

"The Silver Valley Sun Club?" Paul asked as he stored the milk and a few other perishables in the refrigerator.

"You know the place?" Holly questioned in surprise.

"I like to stop overnight there whenever I drive to Los Angeles in my motor home," Paul answered with a warm smile. "They have great RV hook-up facilities and serve meals on the weekend."

"The RV hook-ups are good but the meals are what we all love about it. We don't have to leave the resort all weekend until it's time to head home."

"Wait-wait-wait," Tori shrieked, totally poleaxed by what her mother had said. She angrily queried, "Are you telling me you and dad are Naturists and that the weekend trips you take out of town are actually a getaway to a nudist club?"

"Yes dear," Holly said with a motherly pat on the brunette's arm as she past by Tori on the way to store a few more cans in the cupboard. "The four of us just love the stress relief."

"Well I can understand how being naked can relieve stress but..." Tori started to say before something her mother had said hit her. She anxiously yelped, "Wait! The _four _of you?"

"Yes, Gary and his wife own the RV we all use."

"Gary? You mean dad's partner on the police force?" Tori weakly questioned in disbelief. This was all becoming too much to handle. First discovering that her parents were practicing Nudist and then finding out that they got naked with another couple? Tori was getting a headache from information overload.

"Yes, honey. As I said, Gary owns the RV we stay in at the resort." Holly could see her daughter wasn't taking the information very well so she wrapped an arm around Tori's bare waist to comfort her. That was why she and her husband had misled their daughters about where they went on the occasional weekend getaway and about their unusual lifestyle. They knew both Tori and Trina wouldn't be able to cope when they were younger so they told their daughters that they were staying in Santa Barbara to hide what they were really doing.

But now that Tori had discovered the joys of being naked she thought her younger daughter might be able to handle the entire situation. But if she was baring her and her husband's secrets to Tori, Holly thought she might as well tell her _everything._ "Gary bought the RV so we all could sneak away for some naked sexual fun."

Tori anxiously blurted out, "So you and Gary _are_ having an affair?" She had suspected as much when her mother would laugh at something Gary texted her then erased it right away; Like the time she and her friends went without cellphones for a week and her mother received a text while sitting at the kitchen table while Tori was doing her homework.

Holly snorted out in amusement, "You can't really call it an affair if your father and Gary's wife are also in bed with us making love."

"This is all too much," Tori dejected groaned and moved over to the living room to flop down on the couch. Her whole world was suddenly upended with what her mother had just told her. Sure, she'd suspected her mother of infidelity but she didn't know her father, a Hollywood Police Detective no less, was also fooling around with another man's wife. That they were messing around outside their marriage in the same bed didn't matter. They were cheating with someone outside of their marriage.

Holly didn't know what to do for her daughter. The initial information had casually slipped out and she really didn't have time to think about how it would affect Tori. She and David had discussed whether, or even if, their daughters should eventually be told everything and recently had decided Tori and Trina were now old enough to know the whole story, _if_ the information somehow came to light.

Holly was just about to go to her daughter when Paul stopped her and said, "I'll talk to Tori."

The well proportioned, naked guy walked over to the couches and sat down beside his girlfriend, draping an arm around her slumped shoulders. Paul gently placed a kiss on her temple then asked, "Why are you so concerned?"

Tori dejectedly answered, "Why shouldn't I be? I just found out that my parents are fooling around with their friends on a regular basis."

Paul tightened his grip around Tori's shoulders, pulling her closer to him as he said, "Yes they are, but it's just a different type of lifestyle than what you thought they had. They're what's normally called swingers; A couple who doesn't mind sharing their sexual urges with other couples. But it's just something outside that of a normal relationship. It's not necessarily a bad thing, just different. It's just like you and I are outside the norm with our Naturist lifestyle. That's not normal or everyday."

"I guess you're right," Tori sighed in exasperation as they leaned back into the couch. "It's just that I thought they were a normal, everyday couple and now I find out differently."

"It's just a shock to your ideals of what you thought about them. You'll get use to it in time."

"You're right," Tori ceded as she wrapped her arms around Paul's chest and nestled into his embrace. "You always make me feel safe and secure."

"I love you too," Paul lightly chuckled before planting another kiss on her temple.

Holly came over, stood behind the couch and warily inquired, "Are you okay now?"

Tori leaned out of the hug and answered, "I'm fine mom. Just give me a little time to wrap my mind around what you told me. Oh and by the way, Aunt Suzanne stopped by right after we arrived."

Holly rounded the couch to stand in front of the couple and stated, "Suzanne said she wanted to talk to you when your father and I got a chance to visit with her yesterday. What did you all talk about?"

"She told me that she knows about my budding music career and wants to collaborate on a song or two, or maybe even a whole album," Tori answered.

Before Mrs. Vega could respond, Paul said, "I'm not too sure how that would work out. You're a pop artist and she's more of a folk-inspired singer. Your two styles don't necessarily mesh very well."

"I wouldn't know about that," Tori said, thinking that she needed to look up some of Suzanne Vega's music on the web to find out what kind of music her aunt published. She perked up, looked at her mother and begged, "Why didn't you tell me about Aunt Suzanne? I don't remember ever meeting her before."

"You haven't since you were a little baby," Mrs. Vega said with a wane smile. "Her career has kept her extremely busy and she lives in New York, so she hardly ever gets out here to Los Angeles. When she has a show here she usually arrives and leaves on the same day. Just like you do on your tour."

Tori could understand what her mother was talking about. All to often when she arrived at a gig she would spend most of the afternoon rehearsing or doing a sound check and then she'd leave town almost immediately after the show was over to move on to the next town on the tour. She would never have any significant amount of time to see the sights or visit with anybody unless she was doing multiple nightly show in the city.

"Well," Holly said as she turned and headed for the kitchen, "I'm going to get dinner started. Your father should be home soon."

"Do you need any help?" Tori asked as both she and Paul stood up from the couch and followed.

"You can make the mashed potatoes if you'd like."

"Okay," Tori happily agreed as she went over to get the potatoes out of a lower cupboard. Thinking about the last time she helped with the potatoes a few years ago, the time André had been crushing on Jade and he thought her potatoes were lumpy, she quickly added, "But I'll make sure I get all of the lumps out this time."

Paul lightly elbowed her in the side as he jovially laughed, "Why would you want to do that? If there are lumps, it just shows you used real potatoes instead of store bought, instant potato flakes."

Xxxxxx

David Vega was in a very good mood when he arrived home after work. The city had been quiet for the most part so he wasn't working any cases, only catching up on some of the paperwork that he'd fallen behind on over the last few weeks or just chatting or goofing around with his fellow officers.

David was most impressed when he met Paul. (Both the rancher and Tori had gone up to her room to get dressed for dinner while the potatoes were boiling before returning and mashing the spuds.) The young man fielded Detective Vega's questions in a calm manner and further endeared himself to the patriarch of the house when he handed over a piece of paper with all the information needed to do a complete background check on himself.

Paul further got into David Vega's good graces when he asked for Tori's hand in marriage, stating that he didn't know exactly _when_ it would happen, only that he wanted the father's blessings to pursue Tori with the intent of living the rest of their lives together.

The old-fashioned yet time-honored gesture was highly appreciated by both parents.

Dinner was nice and the conversation was enjoyable for all. As everyone started to clear the table and load the dishwasher, David pulled his daughter to the side and said, "You have a good man there, Tori. Don't mess it up."

The young singer was simply flabbergasted that her father would approve of Paul after only just meeting the young man an hour or so ago. She pushed aside her amazement, smiled and said, "I'm glad you like him, dad. I really love Paul."

"Okaaaay," David Vega tentatively said. He slyly smiled and joked, "So when's the wedding?"

"_Daaaad_!"

David coyly replied to his daughter's astonishment by saying, "You'd better tie him down fast or some other girl will discover what a wonder catch he is and steal him away from you."

Tori only had to think for a second, remembering how fast Trina had tried to snatch him away from her earlier and replied, "I think you're right. Maybe Paul and I should go out and look for a ring after meeting with Mason in the morning."

"You do that," David laughed before pushing his daughter toward the kitchen and adding, "but for now, let's help your mother and Paul with cleaning up the kitchen."

Xxxxxx

Author's Note: I have no relations with Suzanne Vega, professional or otherwise. I just thought it'd be a kick to include her in this story. I'm a long time fan of hers and with the last name of Vega, well, I couldn't resist bringing her on board and making her Tori's aunt. I'm surprised that no one else had made the connection, it just fit so well.

Rebecca Schaeffer was the young star of the TV sitcom **"My Sister Sam"** and was shot point-blank in the chest by an obsessed fan when she answered her front door. Since the incident, security around entertainers has been taken _much_ more seriously.


	16. Meeting Mason and the Wedding

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction that I threw together.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 16

Meeting Mason and the Wedding

Xxxxxx

"Tori, Tori Tori," Mason Thornesmith elatedly said as Gwenyth, one of his assistants, ushered Paul and the brunette singer into his office. He noticed Paul standing beside Tori and condescendingly (with just a hint of sincerity) commented, "And you brought another one of little friends along with you. How marvelous."

Considering Paul stood a good three or four inches taller than Mason and outweighed the record executive by quite a few pounds in muscle mass, calling Paul a _'little_ friend' was a bit of a misnomer. Tori put all that aside and said, "Hi, Mason. Yes it _is_ marvelous since Paul isn't only my friend, but my _fianc__é_ as well."

"Your fiancé?" Mason gasped in surprise. "When did all this happen? I haven't heard of you even dating anyone recently."

"Yes," Paul lightly chuckled as he took Tori's hand in his, "I'd like to hear how I became your fiancé, too. Especially since I haven't officially asked you yet."

Tori turned to the redheaded ranch owner and replied, "Well, you did ask my dad for my hand in marriage last night and that's good enough for me." She leaned in and planted a light kiss on his lips to tell him that she was proud of how he'd handled meeting her father.

"Well if that's the case," Paul said as he wrapped his arms around his newly designated fiancée, "Then I suppose I should get a ring on your finger as soon as possible. I don't want to take the chance that someone else might steal you away before we can tie the knot."

Tori snuggled further into Paul's loving embrace and cooed, "That's exactly what my dad told me to do last night after dinner. He said I should tie _you_ down before another girl catches your eye."

"Oh, kinky. I've never been tied down before," Paul hushed back as he leaned in to kiss Tori.

"_Ahem_!" Just as their lips were about to meet, Mason loudly cleared his throat. "Excuse me but my time is valuable and we were _suppose_ to be discussing a bit of business."

"Right, business," Tori nervously laughed, having been caught almost making out with Paul in Mason's office. She stole a quick kiss before slipping from Paul's embrace and moving over to sit down on the couch. "Okay, down to business."

Thornesmith took his normal chair facing the couch while Paul sat down beside the brunette singer and she ensconced herself into his one-armed hug. Mason took a deep breath and slowly let it out at the sight of Tori cuddling into Paul's side, but started the meeting anyway. "Now first off, I'd like to congratulate you on finding a way to market your singing talents while on vacation. Finding the benefit concert was perfect in keeping your name alive in the public eye while you were taking a break. I was able to create a ton of publicity from it and CD sales at the concert and your two signings were simply fab."

Tori's temper started to rise as the record executive spoke, it just confirmed her feelings that he was in the business only for the money. She tried to push those feelings aside but still retorted, "But it _also_ helped out a family; A wife and little boy who lost the man of the house."

"Yes yes," the record executive condescendingly dismissed the fact. "But the _main_ thing is CD sales at the two signings and at the concert were simply magnificent. You should be congratulated on your effort."

"Well, thanks," Tori said, hoping she hid the disgust in her voice at Mason's greed enough to at least sound pleasant.

"Now," Mason Thornesmith clapped and rubbed his hands together before pointing to the small, three ring binder in Tori's hands, "let me take a look at what you've written so far. I need you to get a move on writing your next album if Andy isn't going to help you."

"His name is _Andr__é__,"_ Tori forcefully reminded her 'boss' as she handed over the folder.

"André, Andy," Mason waived off the difference as he slowly paged through the album. "His wedding is going to put a real crimp in getting your next record out on time."

"I don't think so," Tori snickered as she watched Mason's eyes grow wider and wider as he finally realized that the entire record was already written, and more. Tori had put the five songs she had penned in the folder along with a baker's dozen more songs that Paul's mother had written. There was almost enough in the binder for two whole albums.

"Tori, I'm amazed," Thornesmith marveled as he slowly went back over all of the songs in front of him. "Did you write _all_ of these?"

"No, I only wrote five of them," Tori sheepishly admitted with a nervous laugh.

Mason asked, "Then who wrote the others?"

Paul spoke up as he handed the larger three ring binder that had all of his mother's song in it to the record producer as he said, "That would be my mother. She continued to write after the band she and my father were in broke up."

Mason started to page through the larger binder before he settled on one page, really took a closer look and gasped, "Wait a tick, I recognize this song. It was done by a group called, um..." he wracked his brain and snapped his fingers for a few seconds before he finally threw out, "...Cows without something or other."

"**Sheep Without Fences**," Paul supplied.

"Yes, _that's_ it," Mason almost sighed in relief, now knowing the name of the band that had broken up twenty-five years ago. He warily peered at the younger man and queried, "And both of your parent were part of the group? What did they do after the band went their separate ways?"

"They both moved behind the scenes," Paul nonchalantly shrugged. "But we're not here to discuss my parents, we're here to plan out Tori's second album."

"That true," Mason Thornesmith said, getting back in his 'executive/manager' mode as he handed the larger album to Paul and the smaller one back to Tori and said to the singer, "Now I want you to pick any ten... no make that eleven songs from that folder and record them."

"You're handing creative control over to me?" Tori begged in shock. She'd remembered back to when she and André had submitted their songs for the first album and Mason had put his two cents worth in with all of the lyrics, trying to changed a word or note here and there. So him leaving it all up to her was definitely different.

"I _trust_ you, Tori," Mason sincerely said. Well, he sounded as sincere as a used car salesman that needed to sell one more junker... er, _car_ to make his quota for the month, but you get the picture. He enthusiastically continued, "Now, when would you like to record? You'll probably need a week or two to learn the songs."

"I'm ready to go right now," Tori eagerly sang out. She could see the apprehension on Mason's face so she assured as she held up the binder, "I've already gone over all of these songs a few times on the piano while I was on vacation so it's just a matter of getting the band together to lay down the tracks."

Both Mason and Tori knew he had a house band ready, willing and able to play music any time he needed. Mason had a large number of singing stars and wannabes in his employment so the band was needed if one of them wanted to practice or for just such an occasion to lay down the tracks. (That's if the music wasn't recorded by only one person playing all of it on a electronic keyboard, like André did for her first album.) But he would first need to check if the musicians and a studio were available, so he yelled over his shoulder, "Chelsea!"

The perky, all-business blonde immediately came in from the back offices and said in her usual Americanized English accent, "Yes?"

"Is the band and a studio available right now?"

Chelsea checked her ever-present clipboard, flipped through a few pages and shook her head. "I'm afraid not. The band could record the music tomorrow... but the recording studio isn't available until Monday or Tuesday at the earliest."

Both Mason and Tori knew that she wouldn't normally sing with the band when recording an album, that she'd only be allowed to record along with a prerecorded track. That way the band wouldn't have to play the same song over and over if she didn't lay down the track correctly. (As a matter of fact, Paul also knew this bit of information since he often helped out his father in the studios down in Florida.)

"Alrighty then," Mason said as he stood up and clapped his hands like the meeting was over. "Tori, give the binder to Chelsea so she can get it to the band. They'll record the tracks sometime this weekend." He turned to his assistant and ordered, "Book some time for Tori next week to record her album and don't forget to register copyrights for all of the songs."

Paul cut in and said, "Excuse me, but I already own the copyrights to the songs."

"Damn," Mason swore under his breath, but it was loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Of course he was looking at the royalties as another source of income for the company. (Read himself!)

Paul slyly smiled at Mason's reaction, knowing what was going through the greedy man's head. He offered, "If you have a Mechanical Royalty Contract available we can settle the entire matter right now. I'm feeling generously today so I'll even sign over half of my publishers copyrights to you."

Mason quickly countered, "Will you waive the Internet Royalties, too?"

"Ah, no," Paul answered with a light laugh. "I may be feeling generous, but not _that_ generous."

Both men seemed to know all about the behind-the-scenes workings in the music industry. Tori remembered that the mechanical royalties covered the writing and publishing of a song and were usually split fifty/fifty between the writer and producer while the internet royalties covered anything downloaded and sold via the web. There were also a few other contracts that covered the different royalties and she found the whole mess totally confusing when Mason had tried to explain it to her when she first signed with the record executive, so she had very little idea what the two men were talking about now. But she trusted Paul to look out for her interests. (A/N: Try looking up 'music royalties' on your own sometime and see if you can make heads or tails out of it!)

"Very well," Thornesmith sighed and turned to his assistant. "Will you see to the contracts and get Tori into the studio as soon as possible?"

"Very good," Chelsea replied and checked her clipboard again. She said to Tori, "How about... Monday at eleven A.M.? You can have Studio Seven for the rest of the day."

"Studio Seven?" Tori perked up with a light laugh. "That's the studio where I recorded my first album."

"Of course," Mason said as if it was a well know matter of fact. "We try to use the same studios for all of our artists unless their album doesn't sell very well. We wouldn't want to jinx them now, would we?"

Xxxxxx

After turning the small binder over and signing all the different contracts for the music, Tori and Paul sat in on the end of Cat's meeting with her manager where Paul signed the copyrights paperwork for his mother's songs that were going to be used by the petite redhead. (Even though Cat's first album had just debuted, in Montrose Colorado no less, and was selling well, her manager wanted her to start working on her second album immediately.)

When business was completed, Tori, Cat and Paul went shopping for a ring. When they couldn't find anything they liked at the first jewelers, Paul told Tori not to worry about it and said they should just go home for now since it was past lunchtime.

They picked up some take out from a fast food restaurant called **Obese Burger** on the way and all nakedly enjoyed the meal out on the Vega's patio.

Of course Cat had to be herself and randomly ask as she held out her drink, "Do Lipton Tea employees take _coffee_ breaks at work?"

Xxxxxx

Friday played out just like Tori and Paul had planned. They spent the morning out on the patio listening to her aunt's music so she could get a feel for it and the other half of the day at the piano so Tori could practice the songs she was going to have on her second album.

Saturday morning found Tori shopping at the mall near Beverly Hills for a dress to wear to the wedding later that afternoon. She wanted to wear a white summer dress similar to the one worn by Bo Osinski during a photo shoot for a bottled water ad, but she also wanted it to be a bit longer in the hem. Tori finally found her dress at the third shop she visited. It fell a little short in the length but Tori was able to bribe the shop owner to let out the hem enough so it ended just below her knees instead of mid-thigh. (The shop owner was more than happy to immediately do the alterations after Tori paid for the garment up front and added a generous tip.)

Garment bag in hand, Tori went in search of her boyfriend in the vast mall. She didn't want Paul to see the dress until it was time to leave for the wedding so he'd said he would check out a few jewelry stores while she went off on her search.

After only ten minutes, Tori found Paul in the high-end jewelry store looking over their selection of engagement rings.

"I got my dress," Tori happily sang out as she entered the jewelers holding the garment bag high for Paul to see. (Even though it was in an opaque, tan colored bag so he couldn't actually see the dress anyway.)

Paul turned to his girlfriend with a broad smile and replied, "And I think I've found your ring."

"Really!" the brunette singer practically squealed as she raced over to where Paul was standing in front of the display case. "Lemme See! Lemme See!" (Tori was so loud the sales clerk had to cover her ears and pray that the swiftly moving girl wouldn't knock over or damage any of the displays.)

Tori glanced over the dozen or so rings mounted on a display pad on top of the glass case before pointing to one and shouting, "That's it!" She turned to Paul and excitedly, but a little more quietly, cooed, "That's the exact ring I'm been dreaming about since I was twelve."

Tori had pointed to a platinum ring with a one-and-a-quarter carat, oval diamond set in it. The sparkling gem was flanked by two long cut diamonds that were set into the almost square-shaped band.

The sales clerk, having experienced such exuberance before and being relieved that the young lady hadn't messed up any of the display cases in her mad dash, merely smiled and asked, "Would you like to try it on?"

"I don't know," Paul warily joked. "It looks a little big for you, Tori."

"I don't care," Tori determinedly said as she held out her hand for the clerk to put it on her finger. "If it's too big then I'll just start eating more and get fat enough for it to fit." After a moment's thought, she quickly added, "Or my hands will get a bit more muscles in 'em when I start helping out on the ranch."

"Don't worry," the clerk said as she removed the ring from the display pad and slipped it on Tori's outstretched ring finger. "It can always be re-sized." The ring was a little loose on Tori's slender finger so the clerk removed it and turned to the back of the store. "It'll just take a few minutes." With that, she disappeared through a door to the back room.

"Would you like to check out the wedding bands while we're here?" Paul questioned as he pointed to the next display case over that was rife with gold and silver wedding bands.

Tori moved over to the other glass case and started to check out the rings as she said, "We haven't set a date yet but it wouldn't hurt to look around and see what they have."

"I was looking at them earlier and I noticed these," Paul said as he followed her and pointed out a pair of silver colored rings that had a black, close-up leaf pattern etched into them. "They remind me of the ranch back in Colorado."

"I like 'em," Tori enthused before her demeanor soured. "But I don't think it'll will look right next to the engagement ring. These are kinda rustic looking and the other one is fairly fancy."

"Yes, they don't match very well," Paul agreed, "but they both reflect your life. The engagement ring could represents Hollywood where you grew up, and these could represent Montrose where you're going to live for the rest of your life."

"Ooooo, I like that," Tori cooed to her beau and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "Let's get them."

As coincidental as it may seem, the sales clerk came out of the back room with the re-sized ring at that very moment. She spotted Tori and Paul at another display case, went over to them and said, "Let's try it on for size now."

The brunette singer offered her hand once again and...

The ring fit _perfectly._

Tori held it up to see it in the light and marveled, "I love it. Thanks."

"While we're here," Paul said as he pointed to the leaf pattern wedding bands, "we'd also like to get these, also in platinum if you have them."

"We do have them in platinum," the clerk said as she duck behind the counter for a second and came back up with what looked like a short tapered wooden wand and a set of twenty or thirty steel rings on a chain. "Just let me get your ring size and we'll be able to fill your order."

She took a hold of Paul's left hand and fingered the base of his ring finger, saying, "I think you're a size twelve or thirteen; You have such large hands." She quickly went to work removing a few of the finger size gauges and tried one on Paul's hand. It was kinda tight so she tried another and found it fit perfectly. She then took the ring, put it on the tapered wand (what's called a 'ring stick' in the business) and said, "Yes, you're a twelve and a half."

The sales clerk quickly tidied up before heading into the back room for a few seconds. When she emerged, she was frowning. "I'm sorry but we don't have those particular rings in stock in either of your sizes right now, but we can have them here by Thursday or Friday of next week at the latest."

Before Paul could answer, Tori spoke up, "That's okay. We're not getting married before then so there's no rush."

"But we might be back in Montrose by then," Paul reminded his now official fiancée since Tori had the ring on her finger.

"Ooooh, that's right," Tori disappointedly moaned.

"We can always ship the rings to wherever you are when they're ready," the clerk chimed in, hoping to close the very lucrative sales.

Paul and Tori exchanged a brief, unspoken glance between them before Paul said, "That would work. Let me give you my cellphone number and you can call or text me when they're ready."

After business was concluded, complete with Paul paying for all three rings, the young couple returned to Tori's house to get ready for André and Hope's wedding and reception.

Paul was waiting in the kitchen for his fiancée to come down after getting ready in their room. Tori called down the stairs, "Are you ready to see my dress?"

"I've been ready for fifteen minutes," Paul jovially called back. He quickly added, "But I know the man is supposed to patiently wait for his beloved to finish her make-up and nails and hair and..."

He was cut off as Tori came storming down the steps and playfully shouted, "I don't _take_ that much time to get ready!"

"Wow," the ranch owner whispered when he saw Tori. She was wearing a white cotton, halter top dress that had a scoop front that ventured down to expose a bit of cleavage and the hem ended just below her knees. The onyx colored boots with three inch heels contrasted nicely with the bright dress.

But what really made the dress wow-worthy was the back.

There wasn't any.

Tori's entire shoulders and back were bare from the halter top around her neck to her butt crack, which was barely visible and definitely showed that she had gone commando both top and bottom. (There wasn't any sign of panties or a thong sticking out above her butt and she certainly wasn't wearing a bra.)

"I take it you like my dress," Tori laughingly said as she held her hands straight out to the side and slowly spun around in a circle at the bottom of the stairs, showing off the outfit.

"I think I've created a naked monster."

"What?" the singer questioned. "This dress is a lot more conservative than the one Bo Osinski wore for a bottled water ad. Her dress ended above the knee and she leaned over a lot, showing off her breasts. I just need to remember not to lean forward too much."

Xxxxxx

Tori's dress caused a bit of a stir at the wedding and reception but Paul stood by her side, his hand strategically place to cover her butt crack so it didn't show too much, and she consciously tried not to bend forward to show off anything above the waist. (Although she did accidentally flash a little 'side boob' occasionally while dancing at the reception.)

Both Cat and Jade loved the dress and wanted to find out where they could get one while André and Beck simply gawked at Tori's audacity at wearing something so revealing. Hope, André's new wife, was a little put out from being upstaged by Tori and her dress because she was supposed to be the focus today, but eventually took it all in stride and thoroughly enjoyed her wedding day.

Paul enjoyed meeting his fiancée's other high school friends at the reception and invited them all out to his ranch whenever they needed a little vacation. Tori seconded the motion, telling them how relaxing the ranch was and how much fun she had riding the horses and hiking the trails.

André joked, "Well, does that mean you're gonna move out to Colorado in the future?"

Tori laughed, flashed her engagement ring at him (that nobody had noticed before because they had all been focusing on her dress) and said, "You might say that. Paul and I are engaged so I'll be living on the ranch before too long."

Jade slyly smiled at the news, having figured it would happen sooner or later after watching how the couple had interacted and had worked so well in the kitchen together. Cat squealed in delight, threw her arms around Tori's neck and excitedly begged when the wedding would be. The petite redhead was a little disappointed when her friend informed her that a date hadn't been set yet, but was happy once more when informed that the wedding rings had already been ordered. (Cat hadn't put two and two together when they went ring shopping after their meeting at Neutronium Records. She thought Tori was only looking for more jewelry to wear during her concerts.)

"Well," Jade snidely joked to Tori after pulling her off to the side for a private conversation, "you'd better have the wedding soon. Otherwise you might die a month before _your_ wedding like his last fiancée did."

"Jade!" the brunette singer gasped in shock at the actress' crass remark.

"I didn't want to bring it up in front of Paul but it has to be mentioned. Maybe Paul is cursed and can never get married."

"B-b-but..." Tori stuttered, totally stunned, trying to figure out if Jade may have a point or not.

"It's something to think about," the dark-haired actress said with a coy smile before she turned and sauntered back over to Beck, giving him a flirty peck on the lips.

Paul walked over to the stunned singer after seeing her shocked look, and asked, "Are you alright? What did Jade talk to you about?"

Tori, still thinking about Jade's suggestion, absently said, "She thought we should get married right away; That you might be cursed because of what happened to Kris." She suddenly realized what she had suggested and quickly back-peddled, "Oh Gawd. I'm so sorry I brought that up."

"No, it's okay," Paul assured her, wrapping Tori in his arms and hugging her tight. "It _is_ something to consider. But I also know it takes a lot of time to plan out a wedding." He lightly laughed before saying, "That is unless you're Britney Spears and you're marrying one of your childhood friends in Las Vegas, then annulling the ceremony when you come to your senses." Of course he was talking about Britney's first marriage to her friend Jason Alexander which was quickly annulled 55 hours after the ceremony.

"I would never annul our wedding ceremony," Tori defensively denied as the couple moved out onto the dance floor. She gave him a brief kiss and added in a sultry voice, "If we get married, it'll be for life."

"Okay. So when should we do it?"

Thinking quickly as they started swaying to the music, Tori replied, "I don't know but... how about somewhere in Europe during my upcoming tour?"

"We'll have to find a city where you'll have more than one concert," Paul suggested as they danced to the slow song playing. "That way we'll have some time off for the ceremony."

Tori dreamily sighed, "Wouldn't it be great if we could get married in Paris or Venice?"

Paul jested, "If you were Catholic, maybe we could get the Pope to preform the ceremony at the Vatican since you're a famous pop star."

"That _would_ be extra special," Tori cooed to her beloved before laying another kiss on his lips.

"Or..." Paul slyly drawled out, "how about a small ceremony attended by all our friends and family out at the ranch?"

Tori stopped dancing as she thought about that scenario for only a second before she laughed out, "Now _that_ would be something. I can see Cat, Jade and my mom and dad getting naked during the wedding, but I don't know if Trina and her boyfriend, or Beck, André and Hope would strip down and get naked while they're at the ranch."

"Well, we _could_ waive that little rule during their stay," Paul suggested with a sly smile as they started dancing again to the slow beat. "I'm not sure if I can find a Minister or Priest who would preform the ceremony if everyone's naked." He pondered on that for a second before he thought about something else. "That reminds me. We've never talked about our religious beliefs. I'm not all that religious so it doesn't matter to me who preforms the ceremony."

"I'm Catholic but not that religious either," Tori sighed in relief. She and Cat hadn't attended any church services on the two Sundays that they'd spent at the ranch, and Paul hadn't asked if they wanted to, so she was relieved that any religious differences wouldn't hinder her relationship with her fiancé.

The singer slyly smiled as she brought up another subject that they'd been talking about. "Our little discussion here has brought up another little point that we need to clear up. Will you be joining me on my European tour or will you need to stay in Montrose for some reason? We _could_ use the tour as our own little, all-expenses paid honeymoon."

Paul laughed out, "Now _that_ is a great incentive to accompany you on your tour."

"So is that a yes?"

"If you'd like me to come along, I'd be more than happy to," Paul lovingly said with a warm smile. The look faded a bit before he added, "But we can talk about that later. First, you need to concentrate on laying down the tracks for the album on Monday."

"You're right," the brunette singer ceded, then snuggled deeper into his embrace as another slow song started to play.


	17. Plans

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my twisted and gnarled fingers.

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 17

Plans

Xxxxxx

"Oh my Gawd," David Vega gasped after taking his first bite of dinner Sunday evening. He practically slammed both hands down on the table beside his plate and appeared to be having a mouth-orgasm from the food. He raved, "This spaghetti sauce is _soooo_ good. What brand is it and where did you buy it so Holly can get some more."

"Actually," Paul said as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "it's not from the store. It's some of my own creation."

Paul Bowman had further wanted to ingratiate himself with his fiancée's parents so he had cooked everyone dinner. Tori's mother and father already liked him but he'd planned this special dinner before he and the singer had left Colorado and had brought along two jars of his homemade sauce on the trip.

Tori turned to her fiancé and begged, "Is that why you have ten tomato plants in your garden? So you can make spaghetti sauce?"

Paul lightly laughed as he answered, "That, and I also like to can a batch of spicy salsa using the tomatoes and chili peppers. They both help get me through the cold Colorado winters."

Holly Vega wiped her mouth with a napkin and said, "I can see how something like this would warm you up, but where did you learn to cook like this?"

"Well..." Paul let out a sigh while looking over to his girlfriend sitting next to him at the Vega kitchen table. Tori gave him a supportive nod while lacing her fingers with his on the table. She had heard the story about when he'd studied cooking. He'd told her, Cat and Jade while they were eating their grilled steaks out on the patio at the ranch.

"...I needed to occupy my time somehow while rehabbing from a traffic accident that killed my parents and two other people so I decided to take some cooking classes. I'm actually rated a one-star chef now."

David's fork clattered onto his already half empty plate (He'd really been digging in while the others were talking) and begged, "Wait a minute. If you're a one-star chef then why aren't you in the kitchen at some fancy restaurant?"

"Oh, I'd never cook for a living," Paul vehemently explained. "That would take all the fun out of creating a meal." He saw the confusion on all three Vega faces so he continued, "The greatest pleasure I receive from cooking is watching people enjoy their meal. If I was stuck in the restaurant's kitchen, I'd never get a chance to see the patrons enjoying the dishes I'd created."

"That makes sense," Holly said before she took another bite of the sauce laden pasta and savored the flavorful creation.

"Well if you excuse me," David said as he got up from the table and headed over to the stove, "I'm ready for seconds."

"You should try his Etouffe," Tori jovially chimed to her father as he ladled more of the excellent pasta and sauce onto his plate.

After dinner was over, they all cleaned up the kitchen and then sat down to listen to Suzanne Vega's music. (David and Holly had a few of her CDs that they rarely listened to. At least Tori had never heard them played before.)

Tori was floored by the simplicity of her aunt's music. It was merely low-key storytelling set to a basic acoustic guitar, drum and bass for the most part. It wasn't the high energy, bouncing-off-the-walls kind of music Tori usually sang, but there was utter beauty in its simplicity and lyrics.

The brunette singer was glad she hadn't mentioned the possible collaboration with her aunt to Mason during Thursday's meeting. Tori hadn't been prepared to counter any objections or outright refusal he could've made since she wasn't familiar with her aunt's music. But now that she was, Tori could easily put up a fight to be able to sing with her Aunt Suzanne.

She looked over to Paul and saw he was paging through the huge three ring binder of his mother's music. She curiously asked, "What'cha doing?"

"Actually," Paul answered, closing the binder to look over to her, "I was just checking if there's anything in here that you and your aunt could sing together." A broad smile arose as he continued, "And I think there's quite a few songs in here that could be adapted to mesh with _both_ your styles."

Xxxxxx

Tori and Paul entered studio seven in the Neutronium Records building at a quarter to eleven Monday morning, (fifteen minutes before she was scheduled to start recording) finding everything set up and ready to go for her to begin recording her second album. After briefly talking to the sound engineer, the same one who had recorded her inaugural album and introducing Paul to the man, Tori entered the recording booth and donned the headphones.

Just over an hour later as the last notes of the last song faded, Tori saw Mason Thornesmith enter the studio with a broad smile. When she got the 'all clear' from the engineer, she exited the booth to curiously greet her boss.

"Hey Mason. What are you doing here?" She knew the record producer had the recording studio wired with both sound and video feeds to his office so he'd probably watched her record the entire album.

"Tori, Tori Tori," the slick music executive said condescendingly. "I just wanted to come down here and congratulate you on doing such an _excellent_ job. You did marvelously recording all of your track in only one take... Except the third one." He turned to Paul and asked, "What did you say to John," he pointed to the sound engineer, "that made him stop midway and do the track over?"

John the sound engineer quickly cut in, "That was my fault. I had accidentally turned on the reverberation effect when setting up for track three. It wasn't loud enough to make any difference, it was barely audible, but it was there so that's why I stopped Tori and redid the track after Paul mentioned it."

Paul quickly added, "I only mentioned it to John because I wanted Tori's album to be perfect, and it is." He took the singer in his arms and gave her a quick peck on the lips in his own little congratulations on a job well done.

"I didn't hear it," Tori comment before returning the favor, then turned to her boss with a brilliant yet content smile.

"Well, if that's the case," Mason turned to the sound engineer, "you're fired." He looked back to Paul and said, "You're hired. You're my new sound engineer."

"No I'm not," Paul said with a sly grin. "I don't want _or_ need the job."

Mason fumed for a few seconds before he huffed out a breath and disappointedly said, "Oh alright. John, you're not fired since you did an _adequate_ job recording the session."

The sound engineer let out a relieved breath that he'd been holding in after being fired while the three started out the door.

As Mason, Tori and Paul walked down the hallway, the brunette singer suddenly perked up and said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you the other day. My Aunt Suzanne wants to do a collaboration with me on a few songs... maybe even a whole album."

"Tori, Tori Tori," the record executive dismissively started. "Just because you're gaining _some_ fame it doesn't mean we can let a no-name hack/relative come in and ruin all of _my_ hard work."

Tori was about to tear into Mason for calling her aunt a no-name hack and mention that she was the one doing most, if not all of the work today, but Paul cut her off. "I don't think you can call someone whose had _two_ Top Ten songs a no-name hack."

Thornesmith stopped in his tracks and curiously begged the couple, _"Two_ Top Tens? Who is your aunt, anyway?"

"Suzanne Vega," Tori smugly answered. "She had hit songs with **Luka **and **Tom's Cabin**."

"And a few others. **Book Of Dreams**, **Marlena On The Wall **and **99.9 Fahrenheit Degrees **were also extremely popular," Paul added.

"Yes," Mason quickly scoffed, recognizing the music from the 1980's. "But that was during the last century. We don't want you to be associated with a has-been from thirty years ago. It would be bad for your image." Mason started to walk back to his office leaving the couple to catch up.

As they entered the posh office, Paul countered, "I don't think you can call Suzanne Vega a has-been. She's currently out on a European tour and her music is still very popular with the older crowd." The redheaded millionaire slyly questioned, "You _do_ want to expand Tori's fan base and this would be the perfect way to draw in more fans."

Mason sat down behind his desk, laced his fingers with his elbows resting on the desktop and thought about it for a half a minute before he shook his head and said, "I don't think it would draw in enough fans to warrant the production expense, so I have to say no to the whole thing."

Tori was totally disappointed in being shot down for the chance to collaborate with her aunt, which would also let her connect with a relative she didn't even remember having in the first place. She really loved listening to Suzanne's music the other day and wanted to work with her aunt so they could talk more and connect.

"What if..." Paul slyly ventured, knowing his fiancée wanted to work with her aunt, "...what if Suzanne Vega's record company took on the whole project? If the album sells then Tori gains a whole new fan base. If not," Paul shrugged, "then you're not out one red cent."

Mason hedged, "Ummm, I don't know."

"Oh, come on," Tori playfully chided. "As Crosby, Stills and Nash once sang, 'what have you got to lose'?"

"Oh alright," Mason finally caved after a few seconds as he sat up at his desk and started tidying the few papers on it that really didn't need to be tidied. "But you'd better have another album ready to be recorded by the time you get back from your tour."

"Thank you," Tori gushed and quickly circled the desk to wrap Mason is a brief hug. As she released the record producer, she asked, "By the way, have all the dates been set for my tour? I haven't seen a list or anything about where I'm going to be performing."

"I don't know," Mason Thornesmith dismissively waved them off while he started to read a piece of paper on his desk. (Or at least appeared to be reading it. Tori wasn't too sure but Paul reasoned that Thornesmith just wanted to quickly move on to work on another artist's project since Tori had finished recording her album.) "Go ask Gwenyth. She should know."

Both Tori and Paul took Mason's actions as a sign that the meeting was over and they were dismissed, so they quickly exited the inner office. They approached Mason's assistant sitting at her desk and Tori asked, "Gwenyth? Would you happen to have the information for my upcoming tour? I haven't seen anything and it's suppose to start in a week or two."

The secretary sat up and smiled at one of the company's rising stars as she said, "The information is up on your flashtwit account and I e-mailed you the information last week."

"Oh," Tori abashedly gasped. She weakly confessed, "I haven't flashtwited since I left on my vacation and I haven't checked my e-mail account since... well since before then."

"That's alright by me," Gwenyth coyly chuckled as she stood up and quickly pulled a file out of the credenza cabinet behind her desk, "but don't let Mason hear you say that. Let me make you a copy." The secretary took the file over to the copying machine and quickly ran off a few sets of everything in it. She pulled two of the collated and stapled finished product from the machine and handed one each to Tori and Paul. "Now you both have a copy."

Gwenyth pointed to the top of Tori's first page and said, "As you can see, you leave L.A. on Friday of next week. He's going all out on this tour. Mason rented a private jet for you but that also means you'll be living _on_ the jet for the whole tour."

"No hotel rooms or chartered buses?" Tori questioned in surprise. Normally she would live on the bus Mason would lease for her except if she was staying in a town for more than one show. Then he'd put her up in a hotel for the night so she could clean up properly and maybe get a good night's rest. (And even then the overnight stay wouldn't be at one of the finer hotels in the city. The cheapskate!)

"No," Gwenyth said as she gathered the other three copies from the machine, put them back in the folder and placed it back in the cabinet. "The venues are too far apart for a tour bus so you'll be living on the plane. Don't worry though, it's suppose to have all the amenities of home: a bedroom, full bathroom and even a fancy entertainment center complete with a baby grand piano."

Paul curiously begged, "A piano?"

Tori lightly laughed as she answered, "So I can practice between shows. Mason had an electric keyboard installed on the bus during my last tour so I could practice and maybe write a few new songs while traveling between cities."

Paul thought about it for a few seconds before nodding, "I suppose that makes sense."

Gwenyth casually asked the singer, "Are you taking the boyfriend along? Chelsea couldn't stop talking about Paul when she got back from Colorado. She went on and on about what a hunk you'd discovered in the backwoods." She scanned Paul's body for a second and let out with a wolf whistle, "Ummm-Ummm. And I must say she wasn't wrong in her assessment."

"Why, thank you," Paul blushed a little at the compliment. Suddenly his cellphone rang. He pulled it from his pocket, checked the caller I.D. and told them, "I'd better take this. It's the jewelry store." Paul answered the call as he stepped out of the outer office and into the hallway.

"Jewelry store?" Gwenyth practically squealed in delight. "Are you two already thinking about getting engaged?"

Tori nervously laughed as she flashed her engagement ring to the secretary and answered, "We already are. That call is probably about the wedding rings we ordered on Saturday morning."

"Oh wow," the secretary marveled as she inspected the diamond ring on the singer's finger. After a good look-see, she let go of Tori's hand and warily asked, "But aren't you rushing things a bit? You've only known Paul for what? Two or three weeks?"

Tori broke into a huge smile and said, "One of my favorite quotes from Jane Austen's novel, **Pride and Prejudice** explains it all. 'A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment'."

Gwenyth slyly smirked as she begged, "And I bet your imagination has been racing along at ninety miles a minute. Right?"

Tori nervously laughed, "Yeah, something like that. Paul and I just clicked so there's no reason to put off getting married."

The redheaded subject of their discussion came back into the room and said, "That _was_ the jewelry store and they found out that they have our wedding rings in the correct size at another one of their stores. They've had them set over so we can pick them up at any time."

"You have the rings," Gwenyth coyly joked, "so when's the wedding?"

The two women questioningly looked to Paul who simply shrugged and answered, "That's up to Tori."

Tori thought for only a moment before saying,"I say the sooner the better. Let's go pick up the rings then make some arrangements."

Gwenyth quipped to the singer, "Be sure to thank Jane Austen and your imagination." (Referring to the book and quote they were discussing earlier.)

"Oh I will," Tori laughingly assured her as she and Paul walked out of the office.

Xxxxxx

With wedding bands secured, Tori and Paul headed over to the proper government building in Hollywood to apply for their wedding license. With that in hand, they returned to the Vega residence.

Tori was slightly shocked, but not very surprised when they found both her mother and father at home... lounging out by the pool completely naked. She was shocked that they were nude outside by the pool after her mother had questioned her about being caught by spying eyes, but Tori wasn't very surprised that they were naked. After all, her mother had told her and Paul about their trips to a nudist resort so she wasn't caught off guard when her parents finally brought their nudity home. If her mother and father were comfortable with it then so was she.

Paul and Tori genially greeted her parents and chatted for a minute while showing them the engagement and wedding rings. They then went upstairs, stripped down and returned to join Mr. and Mrs. Vega on the patio.

David, not moving from his comfortable position in the well padded chair he was sitting in at a patio table next to his wife, asked, "Now that you have the rings, which I think are nice, and the license, when's the wedding?"

Tori sat up in her chaise lounge, peered over to her father and jovially begged, "Why do you ask, dad? Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"That thought _has_ crossed our minds," Holly answered as she reached over to take her husband's hand that was lying on the table as a symbol of unity. "With Trina out of the house now and you living in Colorado, your father and I would have the whole house to ourselves."

Tori angrily replied, "You just want me out of the way so you can have Gary and his wife come over. That way you don't have to travel a hundred mile to the nudist camp."

David lightly chuckled as he said, "I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the idea."

Tori was about to respond but Paul laid a calming hand on her shoulder and reminded the singer, "It probably would've happened anyway while you were globetrotting on your tour."

The brunette thought about that for a second before she laid back down next to her fiancé, smiled at him and said, "You're right. How did I get so lucky to find a guy like you?" She leaned in and they started to kiss and make out.

Holly separate the two love birds when she said, "Before you two get too hot and heavy, perhaps you should get back to planning your wedding."

"You're right, mom," Tori said as she swung her feet off the chaise and sat on the edge of the lounge facing her parents. She anxiously grasped her head with both hands to think about it for a few seconds before she whined, "But I don't know what I want for my wedding."

Paul sat up next to her on the edge of the chaise and asked, "Well, do you want a large wedding like your friend André?" The André Harris/Hope Quincy wedding two days ago was simply huge, to say the least. Hope's father, Shawn Quincy, had gone all out and invited a vast number of celebrities and friends from the industry.

The pop singer thought about it for a moment then looked to her betrothed, shook her head and said, "No, not really. If we have a big wedding the paparazzi will show up and make a huge deal out of it. I'm sure Mason would just _love_ the publicity of me getting married to someone I've only know for a month."

"I'm sure Mason would go nuts trying to spin it so our marriage sounded proper... or maybe not," Paul chuckled. "He just might go back to his plan of capitalizing on all the negative publicity."

"Yeah, he probably would," Tori agreed as her face soured. She venomously spat, "But I'm not at all happy with him right now, anyway."

David Vega sat up and looked over at his daughter when he heard the spite in her voice. This was something totally different since his daughter had never outright hated anybody before, at least that he knew of. He had to ask, "Why don't you like him, sweetie?"

Tori briefly told her parents about the benefit concert and how Mason had practically turned it into a money making deal for himself. Sure, the fireman's family greatly benefited from Thornesmith's dealings to make more sales with her CD and the extra seats at the Pavilion, but he didn't care one wit about the mother or the son. Mason was more concerned about his bottom line and the CD sales at the two meet-and-greet signings.

Tori also went on to explain how Mason initially reacted to the suggestion that she and her Aunt Suzanne record a few songs together before finally caving in and allowing the collaboration. (That Thornesmith didn't have to lay out one thin dime for but would reap the benefits from the publicity it would generate.)

Both David and Holly Vega were none too pleased when they heard what Mason Thornesmith had called Suzanne Vega.

"You know, sweetie," David suggested with a bit of anger in his own voice, "it might be time for our family lawyer to look over your contract again and see if he can find any way for you to get out of it. Thornesmith is about this close," he held his index finger and thumb only a centimeter apart, "from getting a nine millimeter enema."

"David..." Holly Vega softly chided her husband.

Mr. Vega opened his mouth to defend his statement before he virtually collapsed back into his chair and exhaled, "You're right. Sorry."

"Anyway," Paul spoke up to the two adults, trying to get the conversation back on the topic of the wedding, "we both don't want a big ceremony."

"Well," Holly offered, "you can always have a small wedding here at the house. You could invite your friends over to celebrate the completion of your second album or the start of your World Tour as a cover story for the wedding."

Tori thought about it for a couple of seconds before she nodded and said, "That 's a great idea, but, who could we get to preform the wedding?"

David Vega spoke up. "I'm sure Father Murphy would be happy to come over and perform the ceremony. As a matter of fact, he asked about you last Sunday and was hoping to catch up and talk to you sometime between your tours."

Tori looked to her betrothed and said, "Then I guess we'd better go talk to him."

Xxxxxx

Tori was a bundle of nerves. She didn't know why exactly, but she just was.

It was Friday afternoon, one week before she and Paul would jet off to start her World Tour and they were on their way to the appointment with Father Murphy to ask the Priest to marry them. She didn't know what to expect from the Catholic Priest so she was anxious.

"Tori, it's so good to see you," the man of the cloth said with open arms as he greeted the couple at the door to his office. He briefly hugged her before he turned to Paul. "And who might you be?"

"Paul Bowman," the redheaded ranch owner introduced himself while shaking the Priest's hand. "I'm Tori's fiancé."

"Fiancé?" Father Murphy questioned in surprise as he led the couple into his office and bade them to sit before he circled his desk and sat in the high back chair behind it. "I didn't think it'd been _that_ long since we talked last, Tori. Where did you two meet? Was it on your last tour?"

"No," Tori nervously laughed. "Paul invited me out to his ranch in Colorado to rest up from my last tour a month ago and we just, I don't know, clicked."

"So you knew each other before then?"

"No sir," Paul answered for Tori. "I invited her and her friends out to the ranch because I know how stressful their careers can be since I used to work in the music industry." He looked over to Tori and continued, "I only wanted to let her relax for a bit but, as she said, we formed a connection and now we want to get married."

"Do you think that's wise?" Father Murphy questioned Tori. "To get married after only knowing each other for only a month?"

Tori defensively yelped, "I think I know Paul fairly well." She gathered her senses and continued. "He may be a millionaire and outright owns his horse ranch in Colorado, but he's very well grounded. He helps out the boy's and girl's club in Montrose where he lives and he drives a school bus when they need him." She lovingly gazed into her beau's brown eyes and cooed, "But he only drives part-time because he doesn't want to take someone else's job. He just wants to help out when they're short staffed."

She turned back to the 'Man of the Cloth' and continued, "Paul seems to be known and well liked in Montrose. I've met a few of the people there like the fire chief and one of the doctors at the hospital and they seem to trust and respect him."

"That all sounds nice," Father Murphy genially said before he turned serious, "but have you met his family?"

"No," the brunette singer quietly squeaked and pensively looked down to her hands folded in her lap. She really didn't think it was her place to tell the Father about Paul losing his mother and father, along with his former future wife, in a traffic accident.

Paul bailed her out when he firmly spoke up, "Actually she can't meet my parents. They died in a car accident almost five years ago and I don't have any other living relatives. Both mom and dad were an only child, like me, and both sets of their parents have passed on."

Father Murphy solemnly crossed himself as he said, "I'm sorry to hear that, may God rest their souls."

"That's quite alright, Father," Paul said before he turned and lovingly at Tori. "I believe I'm over the situation and ready to start a family of my own."

Tori's smile beamed brightly at that statement. If she hadn't been in love with Paul before, she truly was now. He'd just faced his parents death head on, telling someone he really didn't know about the tragedy and didn't flinch at all.

Tori was so proud of Paul.

The three chatted for another ten minutes before the Father told them that he was convinced their marriage would last a lifetime. He was a bit surprised when he asked when they wanted to get hitched and Tori told him her plan. It was a bit bold, but he understood her reasons for wanting it that way.

As Tori and Paul left the rectory she got out her Pearphone and started to put her plan in motion.


	18. Wedding and World Tour

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction. And I think a quote would be good right about now:

I would be a liar, a hypocrite, or a fool - and I'm not any of those - to say that I don't write for the reader. I do. But for the reader who hears, who really will work at it, going behind what I seem to say. So I write for myself and that reader who will pay the dues. - Maya Angelou

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 18

Wedding and World Tour

Xxxxxx

Thursday, the day before Tori Vega was to jet off on her first ever World Tour, had arrived. She had invited all of her friends from Hollywood Arts High School to a party that evening and most of them showed up. André Harris was still on his honeymoon with his new bride, Hope, and Robbie Shapiro was still in the mental asylum getting over his 'Rex' problem, but other than that Jade West, Cat Valentine and Beck Oliver were able to come. Tori's sister, Trina, was also present with her boyfriend, Juan.

Tori had told her three friends and sister that it essentially was a celebration to kick off her World Tour and the soon-to-be released second album, but she and Paul secretly had another celebration in mind.

The party was rocking along in high gear, the music was pumping and the food and drinks were being enjoyed by all, but it was starting to get late and a few of the guests needed to leave in an hour or so. Beck had to catch a flight back to Vancouver for his TV show and Jade had an early call the next day to continue shooting her movie while Trina and her beau had left earlier. Trina was totally bored with the party since she wasn't the main attraction and old habits die hard.

Suddenly, the front doorbell rang. Before any of the teens could get it, Mr. and Mrs. Vega came racing down the steps from the second floor where they'd been sequestered to stay out of the way of the party and answered the door.

"Tori," the brunette singer's mother called out from the open doorway, looking over her shoulder, "it's for you."

"Who could it be?" Cat questioned her longtime friend, Jade. "I mean, were all here except André and Hope, and Robbie's still in the hospital with Rex."

"I don't know," the raven-haired actress shrugged to the magenta-hue haired girl. "Maybe the Iceman cometh." Of course she was making a joke, referring to the Eugene O'Neill play about a group of dead-end drunks in a bar with unfulfilled dreams.

Cat on the other hand, raised her soda glass and said, "I doubt it. I think Tori has enough ice for all of us tonight."

Jade could only pat her clueless friend's shoulder in sympathy for not getting the reference.

"It's not the iceman," Tori laughed over her shoulder as she made her way to the door. "It's another guest to preform a little ceremony." She opened the door wide and ushered in Father Murphy.

"What?" Jade queried in confusion when she saw the man of the cloth. "Are you going to have a priest bless your upcoming tour?"

"No," Father Murphy said as he kissed his stole and then draped it around his neck. "I'm here to preform a wedding ceremony."

Cat was totally confused by now and begged, "But who's getting married... And are they the ones who need the ice?"

Seven disbelieving pairs of eyes stared at the petite redhead for a few seconds before Beck finally spoke up. "Cat. There is one couple in this room who's already married and one priest who's taken a vow of celibacy. That leave you and two other couples who _could_ get married, and one of those couples have already shown you an engagement ring. Now, who do you _think_ is getting married?"

It only took five seconds before the redhead's eyes suddenly widened, her hands covered her mouth and she let out a high pitched squeal of delight. She raced over to Tori who had made her way back to her fiancé after ushering in the priest. But, instead of congratulating the brunette, she leapt into Paul's arms and happily yelled, "I accept, Paul. I'll marry you right now."

"Caaaaat!"

The magenta-haired girl quickly hopped off the rancher, turned to the singer with a wide smile and giggled, "I'm just kidding, Tori. I'm so happy for you and Paul." Cat threw her arms around the taller girl and excitedly squeezed and tittered.

Tori realized she'd been played, _again,_ by Cat, just like back at the ranch. What could she say but, "Thanks Cat," and return the hug.

It was a fairly brief ceremony, one without the usual pomp and circumstance. There wasn't a bridal bouquet or special dress for the Bride or her Maid of Honor (or even a tuxedo for the Groom) and the decorations for the party didn't exactly scream wedding, but that didn't matter to the happy couple. Cat stepped up as the Maid of Honor and Beck, even though he and Paul had only met once at André's wedding before today and didn't know each other very well, was the Best Man. David Vega was more than happy to give the bride away.

Unfortunately, both Jade and Beck had to leave shortly after the ceremony ended. Cat, feeling like she was intruding, decided to go home shortly after. (She'd gotten so stoked from the surprise wedding that she literally bounced out the front door even more so than the time she wore her Jupiter Boots at school.)

The newly-wedded couple were exhausted but were still looking forward to their long flight to Tokyo Japan, the first stop on Tori's World Tour and considered to be the start of their honeymoon, that was suppose to leave the next morning. So they headed off to bed while Mr. and Mrs. Vega took a few minute to tidy up before heading upstairs to their own room.

Xxxxxx

Tori and Paul settled in to their comfy seats, ignoring the band and road crew members that were accompanying them on the tour, as the private jet prepared for takeoff. The ground crew was still loading some of the band's equipment so it would be fifteen or twenty minutes before they could depart.

The brunette nestled into her husband's arms and joked, "Well, I guess my vacation is over and it's time to go back to work."

"Yes," Paul jovially answered, "I hope you had a pleasant time."

Tori contently cooed, "I most certainly did. I'm glad I decided to answer your e-mail inviting me to the ranch. I really enjoyed riding the horses, and Montrose is a great little town."

Paul teased, "Is that _all_ you liked about your vacation?"

Tori joked in replied, "Yeah, that's about it... Well except for getting out into the country and seeing all the animals and birds and things that I'd never get to see here in Los Angeles."

Paul playfully pouted when he asked, "So you only liked the horses and deer and the bunnies that ran across the road?"

"No," the brunette happily sighed before giving her man a quick peck on the cheek. "I also found this great guy that I want to spend the rest of my life with. _That's_ what made my vacation the best ever."

"I thought so."

Tori pensively begged, "But do you think we did the right thing when we told Mason about our wedding in the terminal?"

_**FLASHBACK**_

_**½ hour earlier**_

_Mason Thornesmith had ventured out of his office and met up with Paul and Tori in the terminal to see them off on her world tour. To say the record executive was mad when he found out about the wedding between the couple that happened the previous evening would be an understatement. Mason immediately went into a five minute rant about how Tori hadn't cleared it with him first, of how a majority of her male fans would stop listening to her music because their fantasy girl was now married, that the marriage would ruin her career and how he wouldn't stand for such insolence. Mason told Tori, in no uncertain terms, that if she didn't annul the marriage he would just have to take over her choices of songs to sing, clothes to wear and how she would act in public; That their business relationship would revert back to the way it was before the PMAs. (The implication being that Tori would have to go back to wearing the outrageous outfits again and act like a spoiled diva if she wanted to remain in his employment.)_

_At the end of the rant, Mason fired Tori. (Again) _

_Paul stepped in when he saw that his wife of less than a day was left speechless and on the verge of tears by her boss' tirade. He reminded Thornesmith that Tori had four years left on her five year contract and that the world tour was already set with venues booked and tickets sold; That it'd be a logistical nightmare to cancel the tour and refund everyone for the tickets. Plus all of the venues would probably sue to get paid anyway since they would be losing a lucrative show on such short notice. The loss of concession sales alone would be cause for a lawsuit against Mason from each and every venue. _

_Mason backpedaled a bit and told the couple that the tour was still on, but that after the last note of the last song of the final concert of the tour was sung, she would be unemployed. Before any objections could be raise, Mason Thornesmith stormed out of the airport terminal with Chelsea trying to catch up._

_**END FLASHBACK**_

"Mason would've found out sooner or later," Paul reasoned. A sly smile arose as he joked, "Maybe it's a good thing that we talked to your aunt's record company on Tuesday."

"Yeah," Tori laughed, feeling a whole lot better when her husband brought up the meeting with Robert Noble, the executive at Suzanne Vega's record company. "Mr Noble was sure interested in Aunt Suzanne and me doing a record together and he's even letting me sing with her at one of her concerts in Hamburg, Germany when we're in the city for a few days."

Tori nestled further into her husband's embrace and tentative asked, "Um, by the way. What was in that manila envelope you gave him?"

"It was copies of my mom's music that I think you and Suzanne could duet on. I also gave him the address in Hamburg of a recording studio that my dad and I once used. Mr. Noble is going to send the music to your aunt and then see if he can book some time at the studio."

Tori quickly sat up and turned to Paul, looking at him questioningly. "Are you saying you've hooked me and Aunt Suzanne up to record a whole album?"

"If she likes the music, yes," Paul smugly smiled. "You can call it my wedding gift to you."

"Awww, that's so sweet," the brunette singer cooed and leaned in for a quick peck on the lips. Tori leaned back and jested with a mock pout, "But I didn't get you anything."

Paul planted a chaste kiss on his wife's lips and said, "Yes you did. You married me so I got _you_ as a present."

Xxxxxx

After the plane reached altitude after taking off, territory was quickly settled. Since there were four bedrooms, two would be for the four band members (drums, bass, guitar and keyboards), another was designated as the two roadie's room (there were only two roadies that acted as supervisors for the local crews that would man each of the shows. One would set up the amplifiers and instruments and the other handled the lighting) and the smallest bedroom would only be used by Tori and Paul. It was also established that the rules which had been set down on the tour bus during Tori's first tour would also apply on the plane. That meant that when a bedroom or communal bathroom door was closed, no one would disturb the occupants unless it was a dire emergency, (i.e. the plane was about to crash) and that there would be absolutely _no_ practical jokes played on anyone while the plane was in the air.

The roadies and band members were wary of Paul during the first hours of the flight since they hadn't met the man before but had worked with Tori on her previous tour. (They were a little over-protective of their singing star.) But the newly wedded redhead really ingratiated himself with everyone when he prepared a delicious roast chicken dinner for everyone on the plane in the galley.

After the meal and talk at the dinner table, the now sated band and crew members warmly wished both newlyweds well.

Xxxxxx

The private jet rolled into the Tokyo Airport hanger where it would sit for three days while Tori did an evening concert tomorrow (Sunday) and an afternoon show the following day. Then they would pack it all back up and jet off for the next city on Tuesday morning.

As the jet engines wound down, Tori's phone chimed with a text message. The brunette singer almost didn't want to check the message, she and her husband Paul were going to head out and explore Tokyo for a few hours before resting up for tomorrow's brief rehearsal and concert, but she checked it anyway.

"What?!" Tori gasped incredulously as she read the text.

Paul asked, "What is it?"

Tori showed her Pearphone to her husband as she despondently answered, "Mason want's to change the entire lineup of songs for all the concerts, adding some of the new songs from the album I just recorded. _And _he wants me to add a song that relates to each city we're in!"

"Okaaaay," Paul curiously intoned, "that doesn't sound _too_ bad. What's the problem?"

"We _were_ only gonna do the same lineup of songs from the last tour. The band doesn't know any of the new music since they weren't the ones to record it, the studio band did. And on top of that, we all need to learn a _new_ song for each city we play in."

Tori's loud outburst had garnered the attention of the band members who quickly came over to see what the commotion was all about. The musicians weren't happy with the new orders from their boss, to say the least, but they vowed that they'd be ready for the concert. Luckily, Thornesmith had also sent along the entire list of 'city related' songs and the band was familiar with most of the music. (Well, except for the song related to Tokyo. It was by some J-Pop girl group that none of them had heard of before. But the music was fairly basic so they wouldn't have a problem with it.)

Xxxxxx

The next day was hectic, to put it mildly. The stage crew was up early to move the amps, the few set pieces and the instruments to the stadium where the concert was to be held. The band left the plane one hour after the backstage crew had departed to make sure their equipment was set up and tuned properly. Tori and Paul traveled to the venue with the band so they could start rehearsing as soon as everything was set up.

"Whoa," Tori marveled as she stepped into her dressing room back stage with her husband, Paul. The room was already arranged just the way she liked it to be with her wardrobe hanging on the clothes racks at the back of the room and her makeup table laid out like she preferred it. Someone, probably one of the roadies, had even laid all of her jewelry out on a side table to make it easier for her to find just what she wanted to accessorize her costume with.

Of course she should've expected as much. The crews members working this tour were the same one who manned her last tour, so they should know how she liked everything set up. Tori would definitely have to get them all something extra special for Christmas this year to show her appreciation. Their long, hard hours and tireless work made her job all the easier.

The two Tokyo concerts went off without a hitch. They'd had plenty of time to rehearse everything Saturday afternoon and get a couple of hours break before the concert started. After Sunday's concert, the entire set, musical instruments and all, were loaded out, taken back to the plane and stored in the luggage compartment before the jet took off for the next city. As a matter of fact the whole tour went off without a hitch. Load-ins, concerts and load-outs went smoothly in all of the cities on the tour. Everyone worked like a well oiled machine.

The four days spent in Hamburg Germany, with only one performance on the second night, were spent mostly relaxing for the band and roadies. Tori was able to rest a little bit but spent most of one of the days in the rented studio with her Aunt Suzanne Vega. Well, they were able to cut the album in half a day but spent the rest of the time just talking and getting to know one another before Suzanne had to jet off to her next gig.

Suzanne was most intrigued when she found out about Paul's ranch in Colorado and his 'special house rules'. She vowed to visit Tori and Paul when she got the chance.

Tori was highly interested when she found out that Suzanne was a practicing Nichiren Buddhist. The brunette singer knew she'd have to look into that aspect of her aunt's life further.

Xxxxxx

It was a week before Christmas when the final concert of the tour rolled around, and the final venue was Albert Hall in London England.

Both Tori and Paul were surprised when Mason Thornesmith and his assistant Chelsea showed up backstage five minutes before the show was about to begin.

"Tori, Tori, Tori," the record executive greeted in his usual condescending way with arms outstretched in a welcoming manner.

"Hey Mason, Chelsea," the brunette singer answered, nodding to each of them when she said their names. "What are you doing here? I didn't think we'd see you until after Christmas and we were back in the States."

"Well, I decided to take a little vacation and visit Mimzy during the holiday while finishing off a bit of business," Mason said with a huge smile. "You know. Kill two birds with one stone."

Tori quizzically asked, "Business? What business?"

"If you remember," Thornesmith patronized like he was talking down to a small child, "I said I was going to fire you after your last concert on this tour. This _is_ the last one so I'm here to hand you your walking papers." He held out his hand to his assistant and Chelsea gave him three sheets of paper stapled together. "Now all you have to do is sign the last page and initial at the bottom of each page and I'll be free and clear of you. You've been nothing but trouble from the very beginning and I'm more than happy to get you out of my hair."

Mason tried to hand the papers to Tori but she refused, saying, "I'm about to go out on stage. Can't this wait until _after_ the show? I haven't read it yet."

"This'll just take a minute." Mason practically shoved the paperwork into Tori's hands.

Just then the band started playing the introductory music. Tori turned to Paul, gave him the contract and said, "Can you check it over for me? I need to get out there."

"Certainly," Paul cooed to his wife of a five months. He gave her a brief kiss, making sure not to mess up her makeup, and said, "Knock 'em dead."

Tori opened the British concert with their national anthem, **God Save The Queen**, since the Queen Mum and a few of her relatives were in the audience.

As a precaution when the tour first started, one of the roadies had set up a teleprompter downstage in the off chance that Tori would forget the words to the 'city-centric' songs she sung. It was a good thing that someone had the foresight to set up the teleprompter since Tori only practiced the first verse of the British National Anthem.

_God save our gracious Queen,  
>Long live our noble Queen,<br>God save the Queen!  
>Send her victorious,<br>Happy and glorious,  
>Long to reign over us,<br>God save the Queen!  
><em>

When the pre-recorded music started the second verse, Tori was a bit shocked but handled it like a pro. She immediately started singing:

_O lord God arise,_  
><em>Scatter our enemies,<em>  
><em>And make them fall!<em>  
><em>Confound their knavish tricks,<em>  
><em>Confuse their politics,<em>  
><em>On you our hopes we fix,<em>  
><em>God save the Queen!<em>

When Tori saw the third verse show up on the teleprompter she was prepared to continue.

_Not in this land alone,_  
><em>But be God's mercies known,<em>  
><em>From shore to shore!<em>  
><em>Lord make the nations see,<em>  
><em>That men should brothers be,<em>  
><em>And form one family,<em>  
><em>The wide world o'er<em>

_From every latent foe,_  
><em>From the assassins blow,<em>  
><em>God save the Queen!<em>  
><em>O`er her thine arm extend,<em>  
><em>For Britain's sake defend,<em>  
><em>Our mother, prince, and friend,<em>  
><em>God save the Queen!<em>

_Thy choicest gifts in store,_  
><em>On her be pleased to pour,<em>  
><em>Long may she reign!<em>  
><em>May she defend our laws,<em>  
><em>And ever give us cause,<em>  
><em>To sing with heart and voice,<em>  
><em>God save the Queen!<em>

Tori almost expected the anthem to go on for another seven or eight more verses, it being an anthem dedicated to the British monarchy and all, but it was finally over and the concert with her music finally begun.

The intermission came around and Tori left the stage to thunderous applause. She quickly ducked into her dressing room to change her outfit and found Paul inside waiting to help her like he had at all of the other venues. As Tori stripped off her shirt, baring her breasts, she asked, "Where's Mason?"

Paul took the shirt in hand and handed her a different one as he said, "Mason said he needed to talk to the band and that he'd see you after the show."

"What about the contract?" Tori anxiously begged as she kicked off her high-heeled shoes and slid out of her bespangled pants. (Now she was bottomless, having gone commando like she had done at all of her concerts on this tour) She kicked them aside and accepted another pair from Paul.

Paul jovially laughed as he waited to hand his wife a different pair of shoes for the second half of the concert. He said, "Mason snatched it away from me before I could look it over. Don't worry about it until after the concert."

"Okay," Tori heaved a sigh before she switched gears, gave him a kiss on the lips and turned to check her makeup in the mirrors. With a quick touch-up, she was ready to go.

Tori opened the dressing room door, but turned to Paul and said, "I love you."

"Love you too," Paul honestly answered. He smirked and said his signature line that he'd always used to wish her luck on the tour as she headed out on stage, "Now go knock 'em dead." He quickly joked, "Well except for the Queen. I don't think the Brits would like you too much if you knocked her dead."

"Oh you," Tori laughed and headed out for the second half of the show.

Xxxxxx

Tori was ecstatic as she practically bounced off the stage in glee until she saw Paul standing next to Mason and Chelsea with his arms folded across his chest, glaring at them. She quickly begged, "What's wrong?"

Paul angrily shook his head as he told her, "Mason tried to pull a fast one on you. The contract he wanted you to sign would've transferred _all_ rights and control of your music over to him."

"What?!" Tori angrily spat. She turned on Thornesmith and growled, "You tried to steal my music?"

"It was an honest mistake," Mason tried to placate his almost former employee. "Chelsea handed me the wrong contract."

"It was totally my fault," the blonde assistant quickly said, almost as if it was well rehearsed, obviously trying to take the heat off her employer.

"Yeah, right," Paul derisively laughed. He handed another contract to his wife. "They had it all planned to steal your music but I was able to persuade Mason to change his mind. This is the real contract you should sign."

"Are you sure?" Tori tentatively begged as she glanced over the paperwork before signing where Paul indicated. She trusted her husband of only a few months implicitly so she went ahead and inked her name. (Also noting that Mason had already signed the contract.)

"I'm sure," Paul reassured Tori before he took the contract from her, folded it a few times and stuck it in his back pants pocket. He told Mason, "I'll send you the original just as soon as I make a few copies." He turned back to Tori and motioned out to the stage and the thunderous applause still coming from the audience as he happily told her, "You'd better get out there for your encore. The crowd is waiting."

Tori looked over her shoulder to see and hear the audience was still cheering the performance. She jovially laughed, "I guess I'd better. But I'm going out with a bang, not a whimper." The brunette singer kicked off her shoes and stripped off her skinny jeans, then quickly skipped barefoot back out onto the stage in only her long shirt that could almost be described as a very short dress.

Mason curiously asked Chelsea, "I wonder what she meant by that?"

Paul had a fairly good idea as he heard the intro to the encore song, so he merely stated, "Just listen."

Tori Vega-Bowman was all smiles as she started to sing:

_Got a one way ticket down a 2 way street  
>Got the wind in my hair and there's dust on my <span>bare<span> feet  
>I'm just trying to <span><strong>be <strong>**naked** it in America..._

Xxxxxx

Author's Note: If you didn't catch it, Tori was singing her own altered lyrics to **Make It In America **there at the end. Whether anyone in the audience caught the difference and maybe got flashed during the song, well you'll just have to wait for the prologue to find out.


	19. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I receive nothing for this little story since I don't own the copyrights to any of the TV characters from the Nickelodeon show **Victorious** used here. They are owned by Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon. This is purely a work of fiction from my twisted and gnarled fingers. (Actually, I have very nice fingers. They're a bit weathered from working for the last forty plus years but they still function well. I can still palm a basketball when needed, tho my knees are giving me troubles so I can't get up there to slam dunk it.)

And I think one more quote is needed to wrap this experience up in a tidy little bundle:

A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom.

Roald Dahl

Xxxxxx

Tori's Vacay

Chapter 19

Epilogue

Xxxxxx

Tori was a bit chilled as she donned her clothes in the tack room after riding Lady naked for a half hour. She'd wanted to ride for a little longer but the cold weather and snow on the ground make it hard to really enjoy the ride. (Although it was still fairly stimulating for a late-January day.)

The brunette made sure the watering trough was full and the heater unit was doing its job, keeping the trough ice free, before she made sure there was enough hay out for the five horses. When the tasks were complete she hopped onto the ATV and drove back to the ranch house.

Tori had to stop half way back to the house when she saw an animal trotting up the snow covered gravel road toward her. It was a large bobcat that briefly stopped in its tracks and curiously looked at her, a rabbit hanging from it's powerful jaws. Its gray/black fur almost blended in with the snow covered ground.

The brunette was loathe to do it but, just as a safety precaution, she opened the rifle scabbard attached to the ATV and drew the .308 deer hunting rifle, flipping the safety off as she aimed in the animal's general direction. Tori knew the wild cat probably wouldn't attack her, it already had its meal in it mouth and bobcats normally didn't bother with anything larger than a raccoon unless the animal was either cornered or desperate, but she'd rather be safe than sorry. There had been reports of bear coming down from their normal mountain digs in search of food so Paul had made sure they both were armed whenever they were out and about on the ranch. (Tori already knew how to use most any firearm, being the daughter of a police detective, so she knew how to handle the weapon safely.)

Thinking of the old Steve Miller Band hit, Tori wickedly smiled and quietly called out to the bobcat and paraphrased, "Go on. Take the _bunny_ and run."

The small but powerful animal paused for only a few seconds more before it turned and trotted up the sloping cliff, disappearing into the scrub pines on the side of the cliff face with its meal. Tori marveled at the sight, having never seen a bobcat before, as she re-safety then re-sheathed the weapon in its hard case.

The singing star smiled to herself as she reflected on making the right decision in accepting Paul's invitation to the ranch a little over half a year ago.

The last seven months had been the best of her life. Tori had traveled around the globe, sang in sixty major cities and reconnected with her Aunt Suzanne Vega, a relative she really didn't remember from her childhood. She also got married to a wonderful guy and moved in to his great house in Colorado. Plus she'd gotten out from under Mason Thornesmith's stifling thumb and joined a record company that let her enjoy her music, not controlled or manipulated her for the sake of money.

Tori shook her head at the blessing she'd received over the last six months as she started up the ATV and continued on to the house.

"Did you enjoy your ride?" Paul greeted his wife as Tori entered the kitchen from the garage and took her furry Ugg boots off, (the only piece of apparel she wore during her naked ride,) and then stripped out of the rest of her clothes.

"It was nice," Tori answered before giving him a quick peck on the lips and then moving over to the refrigerator to get the milk out. She shivered a bit as she continued, "But I'm not sure if I want to ride every day. It's getting too cold out and I'm not used to it after living in L.A. my whole life."

"You'll eventually get used to the winters out here," Paul said as he got a small sauce pan out of one cabinet and the cocoa mix out of another. Working side-by-side, they quickly had two mugs of hot chocolate ready and adjourned to the living room to snuggle up on the couch under a shared Afghan blanket.

Tori took a sip of her cocoa before nestling back further into Paul's one-armed embrace and cooed, "It's absolutely beautiful out in the pasture with the snow and everything. I simply _love_ that I'll be living here in Montrose with you forever."

Paul kissed the back of Tori's head and said, "And I love that you'll be here in my arms for the rest of my life."

The happy couple blissfully sat in silence, sipping the drinks and enjoying the moment.

Paul took one more sip from his mug before he asked his wife, "When do you want to continue working on your next album? Robert called and asked how we were coming along with it while you were at the stables." He was referring to Robert Noble, Suzanne Vega's manager and the one whom Tori had signed on with immediately after they'd arrived back in the States. Mr. Noble was more than happy to sign the singer since Tori and her aunt's album had jumped to the top of the charts immediately after being released and was already rivaling Tori's other two albums in sales.

That fact, of course, caused Mason Thornesmith to immediately contact Tori in the hopes that he could sign her back up. When Tori nixed that idea and told her former boss that she'd already signed on with another record company, he went into another rant which the singer simply laughed at. When Mason threatened to sue her, she reminded Mason of their termination contract both had signed at the end of the show in London and told him to go ahead and try it. Mason hung up the phone without saying a word. (Paul had Mason sign the contract first and had witnessed both signatures so it was legally binding, and Mason knew it; Especially since Chelsea had also witnessed both Mason and Tori signing the termination contract.)

There had been a brief scandal over Tori's altered lyric and dress for her encore song in London. Tori immediately flashtwited her response, saying the the new lyrics and her with no pants on were aimed at the country she was singing in; That the British generally didn't have a problem with nudity and that it was just a song. She wasn't advocating that everyone run around naked all of the time.

The controversy quickly faded away into the history books with Tori being hailed as a lyrical and stage genius. (Although there were a few pic on the web of Tori flashing her bare bottom to the fans during the song.)

But that wasn't the end of the drama connected with that particular version of the song.

Somehow, Robert Noble had gotten a copy of the concert, the whole thing had been videotaped, and release the encore song **Naked In America **as a single. It quickly shot to the top of the charts and became _the_ number 1 hit in England almost immediately, and most of Europe followed in the following months. Since the song was a huge hit, Tori did a music video of the altered song in which she was naked throughout, although strategically censored. But you could tell she was totally bare behind the pixels and strategically placed black censor bars.

Thornesmith then claimed the song was his property but Paul reminded the record executive that Tori had signed the termination contract _before_ she sang the altered song. And since she'd written the original lyrics, well, Mason again didn't have a leg to stand on.

Tori looked down to her almost empty cup of cocoa, smiled and said, "I suppose we can record a coupla more songs now. There's no time like the present." She quickly finished up her drink, stood and offered her hand to her husband. Paul smirked at the unneeded gesture but accepted the hand and stood. They went to the kitchen to rinse out their mugs before heading up the stairs to the second floor.

While Tori was on her World Tour, Paul had contacted one of his friends who was a building contractor back in Montrose to go out to the ranch house and convert one of the bedrooms into a recording studio. Paul then moved one of his father's sound mixers in there and, voila, they had their own recording studio that would rival any of the professional ones at any record company.

Paul had given Mr. Noble his mom's three-ring binder of music and Robert had one of his musical bands record a lot of the songs so that Tori could record them for her next album whenever she had a free moment. Even though Mr. Noble wanted to wait a year or so to release the album, to allow the duet CD with her Aunt Suzanne to sell more, Tori had already recorded over two dozen of the songs. (She even had a whole Christmas album recorded, and the holiday was a whole eleven months away!)

Just as Tori was about to sing the first note of the first song of the recording session, she slapped her hand over her mouth and swiftly bolted for the upstairs bathroom. Paul quickly followed to assist in any way he could. After retching into the Eco-friendly commode for a minute, Tori sat back on the floor and smiled to her husband.

"Thanks for holding back my hair," Tori meekly said.

"It's the least I could do," Paul quipped with a smirk as he quickly scooped a generous cupful of composting material out of the small trash can looking container and dumped it into the toilet bowl. "After all, you're the one who's going to be in labor in about seven months. I'm just here to make your _job_ a little easier."

"Ha-ha," the brunette singer mock-laughed. "I get it. Labor... job. You're crazy, you know that."

Paul scooted closer to his wife on the tile floor and wrapped an arm around her. He smiled and said, "As Waylon Jennings once sang, '_I've always been crazy but it kept me from going insane_'." He kissed Tori's temple and continued, "Actually, I think you're the reason why I've never gone insane."

Tori somehow latched onto part of his last sentence: 'You're The Reason'. The brunette singer thought back on the birth week song she and André recorded for her sister, Trina. She was the reason Tori got into Hollywood Arts High School so Trina was the reason she was now a huge success in the music industry.

But now Paul was her one and only reason.

Tori snuggled deeper against Paul's chest and cooed, "And you're the reason I'm sane. After all the craziness I've been through in school: the ping pong scam, the Diddly Bops, getting arrested and thrown in prison in Yerba, getting dragged across a basketball court while singing the National Anthem... I now have some normalcy because of you. Because you asked me out here to get away from it all, I now have a wonderful husband and a baby on the way." She happily rubbed the baby bump that'd just started to show recently.

"Yeah," Paul laughed as he jested, "like sitting naked on the bathroom floor, cuddling up with your equally naked husband on a clothing free ranch is _soooo_ normal."

"Well, as André said to me on my first day at Hollywood Arts, 'Normal is boring'." Tori looked deeply into her husband's eyes and cooed, "I love you."

"Love you too," Paul replied. He helped Tori up off the floor to the sink so she could wash out her mouth before kissing her. "Now, let's get back to our boring jobs."

Xxxxxx

**A side story:**

Mason Thornesmith had held a press conference when the controversy first arose about Tori's altered lyrics as an encore to her London concert, stating he'd foreseen 'Tori's descent into insanity' as he put it, and that was the reason he'd fired her. When Tori was exonerated after her web posting and subsequent praise, Thornesmith was left with egg on his face.

But what really got Mason's panties in a bunch was when the rest of his performers and most of his employees started a joint lawsuit against him citing slander and abusive and deceptive management practices as the reason. Tori joined in on the lawsuit, if only to help out the group and maybe to secure all of the rights to her music.

Of course Tori had plenty of ammunition to supply the lawsuit. Her testimony about how Mason had tried to stage her outrageous behavior before the PMAs was extremely damning and some of the other artists recalled similar stories during their careers. (While staging the events wasn't totally illegal, it certainly didn't help Thornesmith's reputation in the industry. He had manipulated his singers and kept it a secret from their friends and family, essentially to gain notoriety for the stars at the expense of their dignity.) She also related as to how she was verbally fired _three_ times before finally signing the termination contract. When that came to light, others, including John the sound engineer, added that they had also been fired multiple times for the silliest of infractions before Thornesmith backpedaled.

Mason Thornesmith didn't show up to face his accusers when the lawsuit went to court. He simply fled to another country that didn't have an extradition treaty with the U.S..

Fortunately, the group's lawyers were smart enough to freeze all of the assets of Neutronium Records at the beginning of the lawsuit. With Mason's absence at the trial, the Judge ruled in favor of the artists and employees, essentially shutting down the company. All of the furniture and equipment in the record company was auctioned off and the building was sold, the proceeds being split between the participants of the lawsuit.

Tori Vega-Bowman received a tidy little six digit sum and also got back all of the copyrights that Mason and Neutronium Records had owned for her music. She and her husband Paul Bowman then purchased some of the studio equipment that was sold at auction from the dismantling of Neutronium Records and started their own record company, helping others who wanted to get into the music industry. (Not to mention hiring quite a few of Neutronium's former employees who were out of work when the company was dismantled.)

Tori was still under contract with her aunt's company so she didn't release any of her music through her and Paul's new company. She mainly played talent scout to find singers by scouring the web and also by listening to the demo tapes she would receive whenever she had a signing/meet and greet session.

After a messy divorce where his wife and son received all of Mason's wealth, he was last seen in an ashram in India, and was having an extremely hard time fitting in.

-30-

Xxxxxx

Author's Notes: There you go boys and girls. I straightened out Tori's career, got her a husband and there's a baby on the way. Oh, I also got her out of Holly_weird_. (And yes, I can call it that. I lived and worked in Los Angeles for sixteen years so I should know just how weird the entertainment industry can be.)

Just an FYI, all of the businesses in Montrose Colorado mentioned in this story are real. I don't own any part of them, I just used them to move the story along. The people I created for this saga are only figments of my imagination, but the way they act isn't. The people of Montrose Colorado are kind, friendly and caring people whom I'm happy to call my friends. In my humble opinion "Small Town America" is still the best place to live. (And no, I don't live at the _end_ of a dead end road in a canyon, tho I do live in a canyon and all of the scenery, conditions and wildlife mentioned are present there. It's absolutely breathtaking.)

Anyway, that's the end of this story. Review if you wanna but I won't force you to do so. That's entirely up to you. I just write these stories so they don't clutter up my brain. I'll answer all signed reviews and except your praise and adulation, but I'll also heartily laugh at any flames or scorn sent my way.

Bunnie!

pbow


End file.
